In his speech to the Labour Party conference last week, Chancellor Gordon Brown (pictured) announced that the Government, for its Pre-Budget Report, would 'encourage and sponsor local forums up and down the country to listen to parents so that their voices are heard and their needs come first'.
Information and tips for providers in developing parents' forums in their area are included in a guide for early years and childcare providers published last week by the Daycare Trust.
The guide includes case studies of parents' forums that are being developed locally in Cornwall and Greenwich, London. The Greenwich forum will form the basis of a steering group for a new children's centre.
In Cornwall, six 'mini' forums are being developed outside the 20 per cent most disadvantaged wards, which will pass information back to local Sure Start programmes.
Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, said, 'As childcare expands in this country it is crucial that we develop services that meet the needs of all families, services that parents and children really want and need.
We want to build on our Childcare Challenge project, nationally and locally, through creating parents' forums to raise awareness, expectation and demands for better childcare for all.'
The guide, Creating solutions, is supported by the Big Lottery Fund and was produced through work with 400 parents and children from Cornwall, Greenwich, Middlesbrough and Sefton who took part in the Daycare Trust's Childcare Challenge project, and who were asked their views on the barriers they found to accessing 'affordable, quality childcare'.
The pilot areas were chosen to reflect the experiences of families from urban, inner city and rural backgrounds and highlight childcare and poverty issues for families living outside the 20 per cent most disadvantaged wards.
According to the Daycare Trust, 46 per cent of disadvantaged families live outside these areas and the Childcare Challenge 'wanted to test the theory that these families had less access to quality childcare simply because of where they live'.
The views of the parents and children consulted have been passed to EYDCPs so they can produce action plans to tackle key issues.
The guide includes tips on how to set up and get the most out of focus groups for parents and children, as well as ideas on how to include fathers, families in rural areas, people from black and ethnic minorities, groups working unsocial hours and other groups not reached by childcare services.
For a free copy of Creating solutions: a guide to involving parents and children in planning childcare services, contact the Daycare Trust on 020 7840 3350.