News

The government’s early years strategy risks overlooking half of the UK’s poor children warns a report by MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

The government plans to build children’s centres in the 20 per cent most deprived wards in England, but research suggests that up to half of children in poverty live outside these areas, many in relatively affluent neighbourhoods, the report says. "There is a danger these people may be overlooked."

The government’s view was that its tax credit approach goes some way towards helping families according to their income rather than postcode.

The report says that schools are well placed to meet unmet demand for child care in deprived areas and in London, but schools were seen as an underused resource, with many reluctant to provide child care.

Wide variation in the number of child care places between different areas led the committee to propose that a target minimum number of places per 100 children should be given to each council.

Due to the large number of very small businesses in child care, the report says that publicly funded grants should be conditional upon the provider having a sound business plan.

The committee found some evidence of professional childminders not registering with Ofsted - a concession given to informal carers. The report says this puts quality at risk and threatens registered providers’ sustainability.

Recent research evidence about the benefits of parental care on very young children should lead the government to examine whether there is a genuine choice between parents working and staying at home with their children, the report adds.