Lack of summer support as millions of parents are urged back to the office

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said that the prime minister is putting parents in an ‘impossible position’ by urging millions to return to their offices at the height of the summer, while failing to provide any additional support.

Speaking ahead of a visit a school in Coventry today (20 July), alongside Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green, Mr Starmer said, ‘We all want society to get moving again, but it requires a clear plan and national leadership from the Government. Despite ordering millions of parents back to the office, the prime minister has refused to provide any extra help for families, penalising parents by putting them in an impossible position.’

He added, ‘Parents got a back-to-work notice on Friday just as the summer holidays began. But they got no support for structured activities, no summer catch-up schemes, and no support for a childcare sector on its knees.’

Despite millions of children experiencing school closures, the Government has not announced any additional funding for summer programmes since the onset of the pandemic. A £9 million holiday fund announced in January will support 50,000 children, meaning just 0.5 per cent of schoolchildren will receive support through the scheme. Meanwhile, many commercial summer activity providers have cancelled all their 2020 programmes.

Mr Starmer continued, ‘If we are going to reopen our society and economy safely and successfully, we need the public to have confidence in the Government’s advice, we need test, track and trace to be working properly, and we need proper support for children to learn and for parents to get back to work.’

Last week, Labour called for targeted support for the struggling childcare sector to prevent a wave of nursery closures. Thousands of childcare providers have closed in the last five years, with thousands more believing that they will not be able to remain open this year.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘Keir Starmer is absolutely right to join us in condemning the Government's lack of support for the childcare sector.

‘We have long been calling on the Government to provide the transitional funding the sector urgently needs to survive, and yet despite the fact that one in four providers fear permanent closure within 12 months, these calls continue to fall on deaf ears. 

‘If the Government is serious about supporting parents and rebooting the economy, it cannot afford to sit by and watch thousands more childcare providers go out of business.   

‘Now more than ever, the Government must show real leadership on this issue and provide the sector with the funding it desperately needs to survive, and to ensure that parents can continue to access high quality and affordable childcare as they return to work.’

Last week, a survey by Parentkind revealed seven in ten parents think the Government has handled the issue poorly during the pandemic.