Help improve childcare

Parents, early years professionals and others with an interest in childcare are being urged to come forward with their ideas to help improve the accessibility and affordability of childcare.

The childcare commission — led by ministers Sarah Teather and Maria Miller — is calling for evidence and ideas on how to make childcare more affordable for working families and reduce any unnecessary burdens on providers. Wrap around care is a particular issue for working parents, and the commission is especially interested in ways to improve the availability of provision before and after regular school hours and during school holidays.

The commission is looking at:

• ways to encourage out of hours provision, so that parents are able to access care for their child when they need it;

• identifying any regulation that is not needed to ensure safety or quality; and

• how childcare helps to get parents into work and out of poverty.

The commission will report to the government in the autumn.

www.education.gov.uk/a00211981/commission-calls-for-views-on-childcare-