Debate contribution: Childcare: High-quality and Affordable Provision

Debate contribution by Miss Nicola Brogan on 12 February 2024.

MLA

Miss Nicola Brogan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

12 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Childcare: High-quality and Affordable Provision

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4217957

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move:

I am really pleased to be here this afternoon to move the motion on behalf of Sinn Féin. I am delighted that one of the first motions to be debated in this new Assembly is on the need to prioritise high-quality, affordable childcare. For almost two years, in the absence of a functioning Assembly and Executive, the Assembly's all-party group on early education and childcare has worked tirelessly to address the serious issues and concerns that the childcare sector faces. It is testament to the childcare providers, users and organisations involved in the all-party group that we are debating childcare at the earliest opportunity. As chairperson of the all-party group, I thank all those involved in the group for their invaluable input to the meetings. Members are honest about their personal challenges and the struggles within the sector, and parents and users are so forthcoming about the serious problems that they face in trying to pay for childcare. I give a special thank-you to Aoife Hamilton and Employers for Childcare for the work that they do as secretariat of the all-party group. Aoife, Employers for Childcare and the all-party group members have been a driving force in ensuring that the early years and childcare strategy is not only progressed but is ambitious and meets the needs of children, families and providers across the North, and that the expertise, knowledge and views of those in the sector are taken into consideration throughout the development of the strategy. Whilst the work of the all-party group has been of great value, further progress was stalled in the absence of an Executive. The motion:

"calls on the Executive to work collectively to deliver a strategy that makes high-quality childcare, affordable for all families, a priority."

It is clear to see that childcare is a massive issue for people right across the North right now. Very often we hear about the rising cost of childcare and the impact that that has on parents and families who are already struggling with the cost of living. We talk about the very real and concerning pressures that our childcare providers face right now in trying to keep their doors open, with increased operating costs and difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. We saw just last week that a day nursery in Lisburn will have to close its doors this month because of increasing costs and staffing pressures. That is not only putting untold pressures on families to find new childcare arrangements in just a matter of weeks, it is putting hard-working staff out of work. We really need to do better for everyone involved. We also understand how poor childcare provision is a massive barrier to women who are trying to join the labour market or to get back into work after having a family, and the detrimental effect that that has on the local economy. In rural areas, such as my constituency of West Tyrone, it is particularly difficult for parents to find adequate childcare provision, with many relying heavily on the support of grandparents and their extended family. We must do more to improve the access to suitable childcare right across the North. That includes adequate childcare for families with children with special educational needs. Children with additional needs and their families have been overlooked and neglected for far too long. We must ensure that a new early years and childcare strategy focuses on meeting their needs as well as the needs of others. It is also crucial that we recognise the role of early education and childcare in helping to lift families out of poverty. High-quality, affordable childcare plays an essential role in tackling disadvantage by enabling parents to work and helping to give children and young people the best start in life. There is no doubt that the cost of childcare is having a crippling effect on families in the North right now. According to Employers for Childcare's most recent survey in 2023, the current average cost for a full-time childcare place is £10,036 per year. That is an increase of 14% since 2021. For 41% of families, childcare is the largest monthly outgoing ahead of mortgage or rental costs, and 56% of families have to use means other than their income to pay for childcare, including savings, credit cards and loans. The costs are simply unaffordable for families. They place an unfair burden on families who are already struggling, and it is unacceptable that they are being put in that position. We really need to see urgent and significant investment in the childcare sector. As chair of the all-party group, together with my fellow members, I listened to many people sharing their experiences and concerns about delivering and availing themselves of childcare. We have also looked at the delivery of childcare in different jurisdictions and countries. It has become abundantly clear that delivering childcare in a fair and sustainable way is difficult. Producing a properly funded childcare strategy that delivers quality care for children, affordability for parents and sustainability for providers will not be easy, but it is crucial that we get it right. It is important that we create our own childcare model and strategy that works for the people of the North. We expect a strategy that puts the interests of the child at its core, supports early development, addresses disadvantage, meets special educational needs and supports the childcare workforce. We want childcare to be affordable and to support parents to return to work or take up new employment opportunities. As part of the all-party group's work, we examined England's scheme, which claims to offer 30 hours of free childcare. Although that sounds good, in practice, it is not meeting the needs of parents, providers or children. We need our own model that ensures the sustainability of the sector by protecting workers' conditions and pay and that reduces fees for parents to drive down the costs for families. That approach would improve the sector's financial sustainability, thereby attracting new childcare providers. It would make childcare more affordable for parents, and it would make it easier to attract and retain childcare staff. It would create a relationship between government and the sector, which could be harnessed to maintain the high standards in the sector and to ensure a focus on childcare's educational benefits.

We expect childcare providers to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but providers can only support us if we support them. The sector employs around 10,000 people, the vast majority of whom are women. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, businesses in the childcare sector are most likely to be headed up by women. Providers also include charities, local voluntary groups, not-for-profits, social enterprises and self-employed childminders. In a recent survey, more than 40% of childcare providers described their financial situation as "struggling", and over 80% said that they were making a loss or just breaking even. Without direct support, more than three quarters anticipated increasing their fees, and the current mechanisms of support — for example, tax-free childcare — do not meet the needs of many families here. We really have an exciting opportunity right now to deliver a top-class early years and childcare strategy, but, as I say, we must get it right. I urge the Minister of Education to work with us; to engage extensively with the experts in the field who have the experience and understanding of what is needed to protect the sector and help it flourish for the benefit of us all; and to co-design the strategy with childcare providers, parents, businesses right across the economy and those involved in inspection and regulation of services. As we are waiting for the strategy to be implemented, it is also important for the Minister to consider re-establishing a childcare reference group to deal with live issues that the sector faces. I also urge the Minister to clearly set out a timeline for the publication of the early years and childcare strategy to ensure that there are no more delays to its development. Sinn Féin wants to see urgent and significant investment delivered to the childcare sector so that we can support the development of children, including children with special educational needs, reduce the cost of childcare for parents, ensure that the childcare sector is sustainable and supported and recognise the invaluable work of childcare staff and improve their pay and conditions. I hope that you will all work with us and support the motion.

1,415 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:36 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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