• Press |
• Paying for childcare |
• Employers |
• NAFIS |
• Find us on Facebook |
• Twitter

• home
• about us
• parent information
• Policy, Research & Campaigns
• Projects
• training & consultancy

Welsh holiday childcare costs up 20 per cent since 2011, new survey shows

Parents in Wales now face the highest costs in Britain for holiday childcare, with prices rising by 20% in the last year alone.

This is among the findings from Daycare Trust’s 2012 holiday childcare costs survey, sponsored by Computershare Voucher Services, which is published today. The survey of Family Information Services and Children’s Information Services across England, Wales and Scotland, which looks at cost and availability of childcare provision in the school holidays found that:

• The average cost of a week’s holiday childcare in Wales is £102.25 (a 19 per cent increase), in Scotland £99.58 (a 10 per cent increase) and in England £99.64 (a 1 per cent increase). The average cost across Britain is now £99.87, an increase of 3 per cent on last year.
• The rising cost in Wales has been driven by an increase in the cost of local authority/maintained sector childcare, which has risen by 32 per cent since last year – most likely as a result of reduced subsidies from local authorities.
• One in three Welsh local authorities (36 per cent) have cut their holiday play service budgets.
• No Welsh local authorities responding to the survey felt they had sufficient holiday childcare available in their local area, despite them having a legal duty to ensure sufficient childcare for working parents under the Childcare Act 2006.
• While in many cases childcare vouchers can be used to ease the cost of holiday childcare, less than one in four local authorities could confidently say if they were aware of whether providers would accept vouchers.

Anand Shukla, Chief Executive of Daycare Trust said:

“This year’s survey illustrates the lottery parents face when it comes to not only finding, but paying for childcare during the long school holidays, and the sharp rise in costs will be felt by Welsh parents this summer.  

“Council cuts to holiday childcare budgets and Family Information Services are hitting families across Wales hard. No local authorities in Wales were confident that they have sufficient childcare available for working families this summer, despite their legal duties in this area. As a result, more parents in Wales than ever will face a juggling act to ensure their children are looked after this summer.”  

Julian Foster, Managing Director of Computershare Voucher Services said:

“It's worrying to see an increase in costs for childcare over the summer holidays compared to last year, and in particular such significant increases in costs in some areas of the country.

It is also concerning to note that despite the 2006 Childcare act, some working parents are still struggling to find the childcare they need.

"We strongly recommend holiday childcare organisations in Wales register with the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) and a childcare voucher scheme, to enable parents to make pre-tax salary savings on their childcare, reducing the pinch felt by rising costs and the likelihood that they have to take leave from work in order to make sure their children are cared for during the holidays." 

© 2013 Daycare Trust. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions | Cookie policy | Contact us | Accessibility statement | Sitemap | Text Only
Registered charity, no. 327279. Company no. 02063604. VAT registered, no. 830 9847 06.