Other Major Parties Seek to Influence Childcare Agenda

Other Major Parties Seek to Influence Childcare Agenda

At the time of writing, Labour are significantly ahead in most opinion polls and most commentators believe they are heading for government. However, no election is over until the votes are in. Few saw the 2015 Conservative win coming, or the surprise result of the 2017 election that saw Theresa May lose her majority. Moreover, enthusiasm for both Labour and the Conservatives is low and many voters are considering voting for smaller parties, seeking to influence the direction of the next government.

The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are both campaigning to end the two child limit on child benefits payments. They also both want to increase the free childcare entitlement. On the Lib Dem side they would like to offer an extra five hours to two year olds, and work towards a universal free entitlement, while the Greens commit to increasing childcare to 35 hours a week across the board. Both parties also have policies on Ofsted, with the Lib Dems saying they will end single-word judgments – and the Greens saying they would abolish the inspectorate entirely. 

On the right of the political spectrum, Reform UK’s manifesto makes no mention of childcare itself, though it does note that the party believes that most mothers would prefer to look after children at home if they could. The party does discuss creating a ‘Patriotic Curriculum’ in schools but it is not clear if this would impact on the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Childcare is a devolved responsibility and so elections to the devolved legislatures have much more influence on childcare policies outside England, but all the nationalist parties want increased responsibilities, especially over taxation. The SNP and Plaid Cymru have also promised to scrap the two child benefit cap.