Challenging government policy…
At the Education and Social Services
Conference in Birmingham in October, I
quizzed the Minister of State for
Children, Young People and Families,
Beverley Hughes MP, on the government’s
support for parents
Question to Beverley Hughes MP,
Minister of State for Children, Young
People and Families
I am delighted that you recognise that
support for parents is core, and your
focus is on outcomes for children. The
biggest influence on children are their
parents, and their family. The family
gives each individual a sense of
identity and value, and is the place
where we learn to live as part of a
wider society.
There is deep and widespread concern
that in the rollout of children’s
centres and extended schools, the
government is focussing more on
providing alternative forms of
childcare to encourage parents to
return to paid employment than on
supporting parents as parents.
I was not satisfied with her reply so
sent a follow-up letter
Follow-up Letter to Beverly Hughes
MP
Dear Mrs Hughes,
At the recent Social Services and
Education Conference in Birmingham I
expressed the widespread and deep
concern that, in the rollout of
children’s centres and extended
schools, the government is focussing
more on encouraging parents to return
to paid employment than on supporting
parents as parents.
I asked you what strategies you have to
support parents to look after their own
children. In your reply, you explained
that children of age 3 and above do
well if they take part in structured
group activities, but did not tell me
how you intend to support parents as
parents.
The main reason for women with young
children to return to work is
financial. They need to work to
support their family. And yet surveys
show that a high proportion of women
(and men) want to spend more time with
their families. This is clearly within
the power of government to change –
tax, benefit, employment policies could
all make it possible for men and women
to realise this aspiration.
I suggest that the government subsidise
the cost of all childcare, not just
childcare provided by a person other
than the parent. Pay the money
directly to the parent, and give the
parents a genuine choice as to how they
care for their child.
I suggested this at a recent meeting on
childcare led by Denise Burke and Eric
Ollerenshaw of the London Development
Agency and Alex Frean of The Times.
All three agreed that this would be the
very best policy.
Local authorities setting up children’s
centres should also be given
performance indicators that measure the
extent of genuine choice and support
offered to parents, rather than just
recording the number of childcare
places provided.
I would be grateful to hear your
thoughts on this. Yours sincerely
Reply from Beverley Hughes MP
She said, ‘we believe parents are the
most
important people in their children’s
lives’, ‘We need to start by
encouraging and supporting effective
parenting in the home’ and ‘We can’t
support children in the round without
supporting their families’.
However, she still stands by the widely
criticised Working Tax Credit, stating
that ‘it is right that we give some
support to parents, especially working
parents’. She rightly
states that ‘the majority of the costs
of raising a family and caring for a
child must rest with the parents’, but
still fails to understand the concept
of real choice, where the government
pays the money directly to the parent,
giving the parents a genuine choice as
to how they care for their child.