Nursery World has an exclusive opportunity for readers to take part in an online Q&A with Elizabeth Truss. The publication of 'More Great Childcare' and 'More Affordable Childcare' have raised many concerns and uncertainties in the early years community, and this is your chance to find out some answers.
Do you want to ask about:
- Early Years Educator and Early Years Teacher qualifications
- The role of local authorities
- Tax-free childcare
- Childminder agencies
- School-based provision
- Funded early education
- and much more...
Just email your question (try to keep it reasonably brief) to nwfeedback@markallengroup.com by 17 September. We'll send them to the Minister and publish her answers on our website later in the month.
The Department for Education says:
'The cost of childcare currently makes up a significant proportion of the expenditure of many families, particularly for those with more than one child.
'The government wants to ensure that affordable, high quality childcare is available at the times when working parents need it. Reliable childcare is vital to giving parents the choice to get into and remain in work.
'Every three- and four-year-old is now entitled to 15 hours per week of funded early education whether or not their parents work and this is being extended to two-year-olds from low income families.
'While low income working families will continue to claim up to 70% of their childcare costs through tax credits, the government’s new Tax-free Childcare scheme will also contribute 20 per cent of childcare costs for middle-income working families.
'The government is also working to improve standards by raising the quality of the staff working in the early years – and helping ensure that children get the best start in life.
'The government wants to help good nurseries expand, to support high quality new entrants to the market and increase the number of childminders so that parents have a choice of high quality provision.'