RISHI Sunak has guaranteed parents will receive free childcare within weeks despite fears computer systems won’t be ready on time.
The Prime Minister hit back over claims the plan was in jeopardy over staffing shortfalls, problems with allocating funding and IT headaches.
A new £4 billion scheme will kick in from April promising every child aged two will receive 15 hours of free childcare a week.
It will be extended from September that will allow anyone aged nine months to be given the same amount of care.
The Prime Minister was speaking on a visit National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire today.
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He conceded there were “some practical issues” over his plan to extend free childcare but said they would be ironed out and would go ahead as planned.
He said: “We are excited about our plans to expand childcare in a way that has never been done in our country before.
“This spring, everyone with two-year-old kids will be able to get 15 hours, that will be expanded to all those with nine-month-olds later this year and then obviously next year 30 hours for all of those, completing the biggest expansion of childcare in our country’s history.
“Now, many families have been able to sign up and it’s all working fine, but there are some practical issues that certain families are facing.
“I just want to reassure all of those people that those issues are being resolved as we speak, all of those families will get the childcare that they are eligible for.”
Reports this morning in The Times reported major issues which could have a serious impact on parents just months before a general election.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the plan at last year’s Budget claiming it was the “biggest transformation of childcare in my lifetime”.
Nursery bosses have been telling parents they can’t guarantee their children the care - and they haven’t been told how much they will receive for each place.
There have also been major issues at HMRC with 25,000 families needing to re-confirm their tax status next month or they may not be able to access the new scheme.
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An accounting error also saw a £120 million budget shortfall after officials miscalculated the cost in its first twelve months.
A Treasury source told The Times: “The strategy is flashing red all over the board. No one at the Treasury trusts the Department for Education to deliver it and there’s fear they’re going to miss all the timelines set out for delivery.”
Meghan Meek-O'Connor, senior policy advisor at Save the Children UK, said: "Delays and technical issues surrounding the vital 15 free hours childcare policy will impact thousands of families.
"Childcare bills are already sky-high, and this means some families are going to have to make drastic decisions, like taking their children out of nursery altogether.
"Not only are we furious that the roll-out is in jeopardy but all along we have said that the UK Government simply hasn't put enough money into this scheme. There is a £5 billion shortfall in the overall funding that's needed to make lasting change to childcare in this country."
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We are rolling out the single largest expansion in childcare in England’s history, ensuring working parents with 30 hours of free childcare a week, starting at nine months old all the way up to their child starting school.
“We are pleased that thousands of parents have already applied for the expansion starting in April.
“However, a pre-existing feature in the tax-free childcare system, where parents re-confirm their eligibility every three months, is impacting a minority of parents when combined with a small number of providers who are asking for codes much earlier than April.
“Parents who can’t re-confirm online until the second half of February or March will therefore automatically receive a letter with a code from HMRC before the middle of February, without needing to take any action.”