Childcare Providers across Wales are at risk of closing due to an unsustainable funding model imposed by the Welsh Government. The flat rate schemes do not cover the true costs of delivering childcare and providers are not allowed to charge the parent the true cost of care when it exceeds the set rate. Since every setting operates differently, many are being forced to run at a loss. This is despite Welsh Government regulations stating our businesses must be sustainable to safeguard our children.
Found: Save Childcare Provision in Wales – Demand Fair Funding and a Fair Process for Providers and Parents
Mentions:
1: Bridget Phillipson (Lab - Houghton and Sunderland South) Childcare costs for under-threes in England have halved since the expansion, but ultimately childcare - Speech Link
2: Sarah Dyke (LD - Glastonbury and Somerton) However, many early years providers, such as Hassockmoor Childcare in Barrington, face significant funding - Speech Link
3: Paul Kohler (LD - Wimbledon) address the problems of funding nursery provision in the private sector. - Speech Link
4: Sally Jameson (LAB - Doncaster Central) constituency, but what revenue funding nurseries will receive? - Speech Link
5: Markus Campbell-Savours (Lab - Penrith and Solway) We on these Benches recognise that school-based childcare offers some of the best childcare. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Dey, Graeme (SNP - Angus South) That support includes the provision of free wellbeing coaching for education staff and funding for the - Speech Link
2: Burnett, Alexander (Con - Aberdeenshire West) To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring access to early learning and childcare for families - Speech Link
3: Don-Innes, Natalie (SNP - Renfrewshire North and West) provision in rural communities through the addressing depopulation action plan, our childcare early - Speech Link
4: Burnett, Alexander (Con - Aberdeenshire West) a nursery in a rural area is not just a childcare issue—it is a death knell for local communities. - Speech Link
5: Rennie, Willie (LD - North East Fife) The last two private nurseries in the east neuk of Fife have closed, removing the flexible childcare - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None Childcare delivers for parents too. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) Similarly, the Statement talked about the growth in childcare provision and the very significant funding - Speech Link
3: Baroness Penn (Con - Life peer) She was also clear that the intention is for the funding to cover food and childcare, but there is a - Speech Link
4: Baroness Penn (Con - Life peer) However, a lot of childcare provision is in the private sector. - Speech Link
5: Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab - Life peer) the necessary childcare. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Whitfield, Martin (Lab - South Scotland) The 2025 survey by the charity Coram Family and Childcare shows that childcare costs for under-threes - Speech Link
2: Don-Innes, Natalie (SNP - Renfrewshire North and West) I accept that, in the current climate, families are finding things difficult, and childcare costs are - Speech Link
3: Whitfield, Martin (Lab - South Scotland) Over the past 18 years, childcare costs have risen by nearly 50 per cent, and fewer than one in three - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Marra, Michael (Lab - North East Scotland) Yet the usual childcare options, such as holiday clubs, are often not available or not appropriate for - Speech Link
2: McMillan, Stuart (SNP - Greenock and Inverclyde) Among those who could not access sufficient childcare, 29 per cent were forced to leave their jobs, 46 - Speech Link
3: O'Kane, Paul (Lab - West Scotland) , which looked at inclusion across education and childcare. - Speech Link
4: Boyack, Sarah (Lab - Lothian) That means that parents are struggling to balance childcare responsibilities with work obligations. - Speech Link
May. 30 2025
Source Page: FOI release 24721: ChildcareFound: of Information Act (2000) received on 14 May 2025 relating to childcare funding consequentials.
May. 07 2025
Source Page: Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme 2025-2028Found: under the Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme.
Found: R1(b) - Commit to consolidating the different childcare funding streams into a single funding stream
Mentions:
1: Bridget Phillipson (Lab - Houghton and Sunderland South) Childcare delivers for parents too. - Speech Link
2: Neil O'Brien (Con - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) In March 2023, the previous Government announced £289 million for the national wraparound childcare funding - Speech Link
3: Bridget Phillipson (Lab - Houghton and Sunderland South) Turning first to the question of funding, there has sadly been some misunderstanding about the funding - Speech Link