It was the news that spread around nurseries and parents quicker than an outbreak of chicken pox. When Jeremy Hunt announced his £4 billion childcare expansion policy, it seemed like cause for celebration for campaigners and cash-strapped parents alike. But almost immediately there was anger from nurseries about what these plans will do to a system already in crisis, and frustration from some parents that the changes will take too long to benefit them. If this was Hunt’s “rabbit in a hat” moment for the Spring Budget, then by the end of last week, it looked a bit Watership Down.
Childcare looks set to be the major battleground at the next election, with Labour promising an overhaul of the system. The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has likened the “scale and ambition” of Labour’s childcare reforms to the creation of the NHS — although details haven’t yet been forthcoming. On the surface, it looked like Hunt might have beaten Labour to the punch with the largest expansion of free childcare England has ever seen.
