Wiltshire Council chosen to co-design national scheme for wraparound childcare

Sunday, 9 July 2023 01:00

Wiltshire Council has been selected by the Government to help co-design a national scheme for primary school age wraparound childcare.

The council is one of 16 local authorities chosen to shape how the offer will look for families with the expansion of school-based childcare provision on either side of the school day.

Wiltshire has already started putting forward ideas for how this offer could work but is also making sure that some of the barriers will be looked at in-depth and form part of the government support.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “I’m very pleased to hear Wiltshire Council has been asked to be part of this key work to ensure plans to create wraparound childcare for primary-aged children can work effectively.

"We already work closely with our schools, out-of-school clubs and early years providers, and we know how important having reliable childcare can be for families. We will be taking our experience and working with colleagues to prepare the way for this new scheme which ultimately will help families to benefit from childcare.”

Sixteen local authorities from Barnsley to Wiltshire have been selected to work with the Government to develop plans for all parents of primary school-aged children to access childcare in their local area between 8 am and 6 pm.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said: “Today is a great step forward as we deliver on the largest ever expansion of childcare which will be transformational for working families and will help grow our economy.

“I want childcare to be truly affordable and available when and where parents need it. This initial investment of over £200 million will go a long way in supporting the fantastic early years sector to prepare for the expansion of free childcare hours available to parents next year.”

More details Government funding boost kickstarts delivery of historic new free childcare offers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)