Charity slates plan to pay grandparents

Paying grandparents to provide child care for
their grandchildren is not the answer to the shortage of child care
in the UK, the Daycare Trust has warned.

The charity says that paying grandmothers is
at best “a short-term sticking plaster” to mask the failings in
current services, insisting that no other European country sees
investing in informal child care as the way to achieve quality
services.

Director of the Daycare Trust Stephen Burke
said that many grandparents do not live close to their
grandchildren and those who want to be paid for looking after
children can be registered as childminders.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and
Pensions said the government was looking at a scheme run by
Nottinghamshire Council, which awards vouchers to child carers,
including grandparents, of up to £25 per child per week.

– The Family Rights Group last week launched a
guide for grandparents raising their grandchildren. Second Time
Around is based on the recommendations of a survey last year
that found that inconsistent financial provision leads to financial
hardship in 71 per cent of cases, a lack of legal security for
grandparents looking after children and high court costs. For more
details phone 020 7923 2628.