Douglas Carswell's Blog

Common sense change for child care

For many local mums and dads in my part of Essex, affordable child care is a massive issue.

That's why minister Liz Truss' new ideas on child care are so important. Forget Europe or potholes for a moment. What if we could make good quality child care a lot more affordable to many more people?

"Easy!" cry the government-must-do-everything brigade. "Get government to pay for it".

The trouble is that government does not have any money. It only has other people's money. Raising taxes even higher in one part of Clacton to pay for child care in another part is not a credible answer.

Why not help those who provide child care instead?  Why not give the professionals more control over how they do what they do best?  

At the moment, those providing care for two year olds are required to make certain that there is one adult carer for every four children.

Fair enough, you might think. But in Holland and Ireland, there is one adult for every six. Are Dutch or Irish toddlers really less well cared for? Not if their subsequent performance in school is anything to go by.  Must a 4:1 ratio be set in stone, always and everywhere?  

The government is seeking to bring our child care into line with what the Dutch and the Irish do – although, you would hardly know that if you only listened to some of the silly attacks on what Liz Truss is proposing (see this particularly batty article by Polly Toynbee as an example).

Liz also wants to simplify the jumble of different qualifications that carers have. Again, I think this is sensible, and will help ensure higher standards.

What Liz is trying to do could really help families in my part of Essex. Stick to your guns, Liz! Don't let some of the hysterical attacks on your common sense ideas put you off.

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