Childcare and Out of School Provision Parents Survey 2023

Activity closed.

Background

Under the Childcare Act 2006 and the Childcare Act 2016, West Berkshire Council along with other local authorities has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient childcare for working parents, as far as is practicable, and sufficient children's centres to promote integrated health, early education, and childcare. These duties sit alongside responsibilities for children's social care and safeguarding.

In the Spring 2023 Budget the government announced several measures to support education and help parents with childcare so they can return to work more easily. Eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year (although parents can use fewer hours over more weeks of the year), from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.

The support will be phased in as follows:

• From April 2024: eligible working parents of 2-year-olds can access 15 hours per week.
• From September 2024: eligible working parents of children aged 9 months up to 3-year-olds can access 15 hours per week.
• From September 2025: eligible working parents of children aged 9 months up to 3 years old can access 30 hours free childcare per week.

The government will also support parents of primary school age children with wraparound childcare provision between 8am and 6pm on week days, through investment for two years from September 2024.

Why we want your views

It's important that we understand what childcare local people are using, and plan to use in the future, so that we can meet our statutory duties.

We'd like to hear about the childcare that you're currently using and what difficulties, if any, you've experienced with finding and accessing a provider.

We would like your views on the new entitlement offers and whether these will be of interest to you and are also keen to understand what you think could be improved or changed.

In addition to this survey, we're engaging with Early Years Providers across West Berkshire who deliver the free entitlements, e.g. private, voluntary and independent settings, childminders, schools and nursery schools.

How to take part

If you'd like to tell us about your experiences with our early years' service, please complete our survey by 5pm on Sunday, 1 October 2023. It should take about 5-10 minutes. 

You can also get paper copies of the survey at any West Berkshire Family Hub.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact earlyyearsservice@westberks.gov.uk or call 01635 503500.

For general enquiries about early years childcare, please visit our webpage.

What happens next

All feedback we receive will be analysed and considered. By understanding the level of interest in childcare entitlements for families in West Berkshire, we will be able to make sure there are enough childcare places available. Your views about the current entitlements and how they are accessed, keeps us informed as to whether families can get them where and when they need childcare.