Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Karl Turner and Sam Gyimah

Monday 19th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)]

13. What assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes in child care costs on the affordability of nursery care for families on low and medium incomes.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

The cost of some of the most popular forms of child care has come down. We have seen that with nurseries, for example: the cost of nurseries is down by 2%, and the cost of childminders is down by 13%. But we are not complacent: we are funding 15 hours of free child care for all three and four-year-olds and all disadvantaged two-year-olds, and we are introducing tax-free child care for working families. This should be compared with the record of the previous Government, under which the cost of child care went up by 50% between 2002 and 2010.

[Mr Gyimah]

The research by 4Children to which the hon. Lady refers confirms that we have a clear plan for child care. As a result of our work, more families than ever before in this country are now eligible for free child care. She refers to the Labour party plan to extend free child care for three and four-year-olds from 15 to 25 hours, but the Labour party is the only party that thinks a clear plan is where it decides to fund a pledge through a bank levy that it has already spent 11 times. That is not a clear plan.

[Karl Turner]

One in 10 working families spend one parent’s wages on child care, so why will the Minister not back Labour’s call for 25 hours a week of free child care for parents of three and four-year-olds, to help working families with this cost of living crisis created by this Government?

[Mr Gyimah]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier answer, just in case he was on autopilot and asking a Whip’s question: it is not possible to fund a pledge with a bank levy that has already been spent 11 times. This Government have a clear plan for child care. Over the course of this Parliament we are spending an extra billion pounds on not just three and four-year olds, because children are not only three and four; parents need child care for children below the age of three and for children older than three and four. That is why we have a clear plan, because we have a strong economy.