Jumping through hoops: Universal Credit, childcare and wraparound care at schools

I’m a Careers professional and my husband is a HLTA (higher level teaching assistant) and Internal Cover teacher in the primary sector. We have a primary school aged child with two learning needs. Part of the problem, as I see it – as someone who claims Universal Credit due to low wages in the public sector and the rising cost of living for families – is revealed in the many hoops involved in claiming Universal Credit’s Childcare / Wraparound care at schools.

Some time ago, a system whereby the funds were automatically provided upfront was suggested. Rather than having to pay upfront then source a comprehensive receipt (from the inspected and registered provider) and receive 85% of the money back later, the funds would be paid direct to the provider. This seems like a very sensible idea to me. If the funds could go to the provider upfront this would support families with one of the larger household bills … especially for those with more than one child!

With Student Loans going direct to universities, Housing Allowance going direct to Landlords or Housing Associations, there are similar systems already used to good effect. It would cut out so much red tape / life admin for families already struggling with bills and responsibilities (many two-parent families nowadays need both parents to work and many are managing both the demands of young children while also supporting elderly parents - as are we, ours are in their 70s).

Using this strategy, Universal Credit would pay the 85% to providers upfront and parents/carers would pay the remaining 15%. To give an example from our own experience, some months we pay £180 upfront and get £153 back. It would be so much simpler and more cost effective for us in terms of spreading the cost of our bills during the month to just pay our £27 share to the provider, and in this way the actual funding wouldn't change, it would just make the process so much easier for families.

I also think two other strategies on childcare / wraparound care would greatly support working parents:

a) much better discounts on siblings and multiples (one of my family members has twin 9-year-old girls, one of whom is type 1 diabetic and the other a 5-year-old boy with learning needs...they are spending a fortune on wraparound care for them as, like many families, both parents have to work to pay all the bills)

OR

b) a much, much better subsidy on childcare and wraparound care as with many other countries, who offer heavily subsidised, high quality STATE provision instead of the very expensive, often poor-quality, private system we have. This would enable parents to work easily, without the added expense of a crippling childcare / wraparound care bill and the many hours spent trying to source a local provider.

I also want to broach the subject of how best to support parents to work: Resolving the issues in the current SEND system would support many more mothers (in particular), but parents in general, to work again / work longer hours in the week. The system is so poor, the battle so immense, that many give up work or reduce hours to fight their case, attend regular meetings, and support their child/children with their education; some even resort to home-schooling because current provision doesn’t meet the need.

If mainstream provision was properly funded, we could recruit the cream of staff, who I know from my professional roles are passionate, keen and excited to do this work. We need to start valuing our school and college support / professional services staff and childcare practitioners with wages that meet the demands, responsibilities and societal rewards of the job (not £1 an hour or so over the minimum wage 21 year olds receive stacking shelves in supermarkets or working in bars, restaurants, cafes, shops or cleaning jobs – the extra qualifications and training needed and the responsibilities held are worth much more than £1 / £1.50 an hour).

We need to start valuing our children and young people and their stretched parents and carers for the contributions they will make and do make to our country, whatever their background.