2. How long in advance would it be reasonable to expect a Welsh Government supported provider of childcare to notify working parents of their child’s start date? OAQ(5)0107(CC)

Parents are notified of when their entitlement to Flying Start childcare begins by a Flying Start health visitor soon after birth. Later in the process, local authorities will refer parents to local providers so that start dates can be agreed as far as possible in advance.

I was surprised, when starting my own three-year-old recently, not to receive advance notice. The process was to have meetings at the beginning of the term and then agree a date. I seek no intervention in my own case, which is resolved, but I just wondered, in having childcare to support working parents as well as the education of the child, would it not be appropriate, if both parents are working, perhaps have to give notice to a private nursery, to have at least a month’s advance notice of what date a child might actually start.

In regard to childcare outside of the Flying Start setting, there is no statutory issue regarding guidance around this, but I am conscious of the Member’s concerns and, as we develop the childcare policy as we move forward, it is something I will be looking at carefully to make sure that parents are aware and confident about how they can access these childcare facilities across Wales.

Cabinet Secretary, you alluded to the Welsh Government’s offer of childcare and that being unfolded now as we go forward in the Assembly. I believe this year the pilots are going to start in the various local authorities that you’ve identified as being fit for purpose for those pilots to take place. What type of public information, what type of information, are you going to make available to parents in the first instance in those pilot areas so that they are aware of what their rights are under the childcare scheme and what will be available to them?

We’ve got five pilot areas, which cover six local authorities, and we’ve already started to work with them on how they devise their schemes. It will be a matter for the local authority in terms of what area space they pick, whether that’s ward-based or school-based or private-sector solutions, but we are keen to make sure that, pre summer, we’re able to ensure that the message goes out to parents in that cohort of individuals where they can access childcare. It is a pilot scheme and we anticipate that some of those pilot schemes actually will not continue in that form. But what we are doing is learning from the way this complicated scheme, as the Member will be aware, is happening in England. Trying to get that out through the door is quite challenging, but we are learning from this and, hopefully, the information that is—the important bit is making sure parents know well in advance their ability to access this programme.