Labour pledges free childcare for parents working part-time

MORE than 40,000 young children in Yorkshire would qualify for three full days of free childcare every week under ambitious plans set out by Ed Balls.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls plays with three year old Connor Felton at the Roundabout Children's Centre in BrightonShadow Chancellor Ed Balls plays with three year old Connor Felton at the Roundabout Children's Centre in Brighton
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls plays with three year old Connor Felton at the Roundabout Children's Centre in Brighton

The Shadow Chancellor told the Labour Party conference that all parents with three- or four-year-olds should be able to work part-time “without having to worry” about the high cost of childcare, which he said is causing problems for families across Britain and proving a brake on productivity.

The West Yorkshire MP unveiled proposals for an extra levy on banks to fund an £800m expansion of the Government’s existing free childcare programme, so offering 25 hours of care per week to every family where all parents are in work.

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The policy amounts to a £66m annual giveaway to Yorkshire families, with Labour estimating 44,015 children in the region would qualify for extra care worth £1,500 per year.

“For many families, high childcare costs are a real problem and can mean that it doesn’t even add up to go to work,” Mr Balls told delegates in Brighton.

“Childcare is a vital part of our economic infrastructure. To make work pay for families, we must act.”

Parents currently receive 15 hours of free childcare from the Government. Mr Balls’s pledge to extend the cover to 25 hours effectively means any parent with children aged three or four would be able to work a three-day week and pay nothing for childcare.

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Mr Balls was at pains to stress the policy had been fully costed and would be funded with an extra tax on banks.

“In the last financial year, the banks paid a staggering £2.7bn less in overall tax than they did in 2010,” he said. “Over the last two years the Government’s bank levy has raised £1.6bn less than even they said it would.

“At a time when resources are tight and families are under pressure that cannot be right.

“The next Labour Government will increase the bank levy rate to raise an extra £800m a year. And we will use the money, for families where all parents are in work, to increase free childcare places for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours to 25 hours a week.

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“For the first time, parents will be able to work part-time without having to worry about the cost of childcare.”

The plan was dismissed by the Conservatives, who claimed Labour had now committed themselves to spending the proceeds of more bank taxes on 11 separate occasions.

“There was nothing new in Ed Balls’s speech – just more debt-funded spending commitments, breaking his own promise to show ‘iron discipline’ on public spending,” said Sajid Javid, the Economic Secretary for the Treasury.

But the proposal was warmly welcomed by charities and pressure groups representing families and children in poverty.

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Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “This proposal is great news for hard-pressed families struggling with the cost of childcare.

“Childcare costs are cripplingly high and, while tax credits give important help, most UK parents are still footing the lion’s share of the bill. The more hours of childcare parents can get for free, the more it will help.”

The announcement is the latest in a series of measures by Labour aimed at easing the strain on working families. Yesterday Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg said Labour would legislate to force every school to stay open between 8am-6pm, five days a week, to allow parents to work.

Mr Balls also used his speech to reveal that Labour would spend the £1bn proceeds of forthcoming rises in the licence fees for the mobile phone spectrum on setting up regional arms of its proposed British Investment Bank.

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The party announced earlier this year that it wants to see a return of regional banking, with local banks set up specifically to support businesses in their local area.

“Region by region, we can get small and growing businesses the finance they need to grow and create jobs,” Mr Balls said.

Earlier in the day, the Shadow Chancellor had been forced to defend his conduct when he was a key member of Gordon Brown’s inner circle in the last Labour Government, alongside spin doctor Damian McBride.

Mr Balls denied that he had ever himself given negative briefings against colleagues while in Government, following Mr McBride’s revelations over recent days that he used personal information against a host of Labour MPs.

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“This kind of negative, nasty briefing is wrong,” Mr Balls said. “But I think also it’s a thing of the past. The Blair/Brown era is gone.

“It is not how Ed Miliband and I are doing things in the Labour Party today. There’s been none of it for the last three or four years. Thank goodness for that.”

Asked whether he could categorically state that he was never involved in negative briefing against a colleague, Mr Balls said: “Yes. That’s not something I’ve ever done, I think it’s the wrong way to do politics.”

Comment: Page 10.