Free childcare 'unintended consequence' concerns raised by Estyn

Free childcare could mean fewer children take early education places, Wales' school inspectorate has warned.

Three and four-year-olds with working parents are entitled to 20 hours free childcare a week on top of the existing 10 hours early education provision.

The care and the education are usually provided in different settings and Estyn is concerned some parents will choose just the 20 hours of care.

Welsh ministers said there was no substantive evidence this was the case.

The 30 hours policy is currently being piloted in seven local authorities and the Welsh Government says it will be available across Wales by 2020.

Estyn told the assembly's children's committee that an "unintended consequence" of the policy could be a decline in take up of "Foundation Phase" education.

The vast majority of children receive their early years education in a school, but for many the childcare will be available elsewhere.

Jane Rees from Estyn said logistical difficulties could mean parents choose between education and care.

"Our concern is they might not take up the Foundation Phase part of the offer, especially if it's on two different sites," she said.

"At present there's good take-up of Foundation Phase because for parents who are thinking about perhaps returning to work they've got at least ten hours of funded education for their children.

"But if that's combined with 20 hours of childcare it may be that parents, if it's logistically difficult for them to access both the childcare provision and the education provision, they might make some choices about it.

"And one of the choices potentially could be that they will take the funded childcare element of it but won't take up the funded education bit."

In its written submission to the committee, Estyn also raised concerns the number of nurseries offering the Foundation Phase may decline because of funding differences.

It said: "As the childcare element of the offer is funded at a higher rate we are concerned that settings may decide to offer the childcare part of the offer only.

"This could have an impact on parental choice as there could be fewer settings offering funded education.

"Where children do not receive their entitlement to good quality funded education there could be an adverse impact on child development.

"Estyn is concerned that schools have not had enough opportunities to engage fully in dialogue about the offer."

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "There is no currently substantive evidence to suggest the implementation of the childcare offer is resulting in a reduction in uptake of Foundation Phase early education places.

"However we will continue to monitor any possible impact as the childcare offer is tested and developed."

Uptake of the childcare offer has been lower than expected, with one suggested reason being the difficulty in finding "wraparound" care that covers a parent's working time outside of school or nursery hours.