SDLP launches ‘A Childcare Guarantee’ policy at High Rise Lisburn

On Thursday 7 November, the SDLP launched its new childcare policy paper, ‘A Childcare Guarantee’ at High Rise family adventure centre, Lisburn. The policy was launched by party leader Claire Hanna, MP and Economy spokesperson Sinéad McLaughlin,  MLA at an event attended by a range of stakeholders from across the childcare and early years sector.

The proposal aims to guarantee:

• Affordability for parents, through the publication of an Early Learning and Childcare Strategy that contains an ambition to cap costs, halving them for parents by 2030
• Sustainability for providers, through a new funding scheme to ensure providers are sustainable and workers are properly paid
• The best start in life for children, through a new expert-led independent body to oversee childcare and early education policy.

It sets out recommendations for affordable and universal childcare for parents, for businesses and workers and for the best start for children.

Summary of recommendations for affordable and universal childcare for parents:

• The Executive must agree and publish an ambitious Early Education and Childcare Strategy to guarantee universal and affordable childcare.
• The new Strategy should set an ambitious timescale for a cap on fees to at least halve childcare costs for all families by 2030, further tailoring this cap according to family composition and income, so no parent would pay more than they could afford for childcare.
• The new Childcare Strategy must also deliver investment tin wrap-around care for school aged children and an extended school offer, along with additional and targeted support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Summary of recommendations for businesses and workers:

• Establishment of a sustainable funding scheme for providers which providers would subscribe to with the conditionality of boosting pay and qualifications for workers.
• A time-bound taskforce to tackle the issue of unregistered childminding should be introduced without delay.
• A Workforce Strategy should be included as part of the Childcare Strategy to improve pay, recruitment and retention.

Summary of recommendations for the best start for children:

• The Executive should resource an independent body to lead the strategic development of early education and childcare.
• Legislation should be introduced to guarantee the legal right of children to a place in a suitable early years and childcare setting.
• Both jurisdictions on the island should accelerate collaboration on early education and childcare.
• The new system introduced under the Childcare Strategy must also deliver inclusive and universal childcare, including for children with disabilities and additional needs.
• Additional subsidies may be needed for providers along with further consideration of the capacity across the sector.

Commenting on the launch of ‘A Childcare Guarantee’, Sinéad McLaughlin said: “Our plan has the potential to dramatically reduce costs for parents, boost our economy, put childcare providers on an even footing and give our children the best start in life. The Executive must engage seriously with these proposals in the absence of any of their own and take meaningful steps to support parents and providers.”

Download ‘A Childcare Guarantee’ here.