The petition on the Parliament website has been started by parent Rachel Massey after discovering that her eldest child would not be entitled to the 30 hours until four months after their birthday. Her child’s birthday is two weeks into April so has to wait until the next term in September.
The nursery her child attends, Kids Around the Clock, a group of two sites in Manchester, is backing her call for change.
Executive assistant to the operations director Danielle Auld said, ‘Rachel came to us for some advice regarding the funded hours as she knew her child, due to turn three in April 2023, would soon be eligible.
‘We explained the way eligibility for the hours works, by terms and not from the child’s third birthday. Understandably this caused much frustration as the child had only missed out on the 30 hours by two weeks and would need to wait a further four months before they would receive that extra support from the Government. This means she would need to pay for two full-time places – one for her newborn child and the other for her three-year-old so that she is able to return to work.
‘Changing the rules so a child can take up the funded hours as soon as they turn three would help so many families.'
The petition is available here