To ask the Minister of Education for an update on the provision of school-age childcare in the forthcoming Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.

Mr Givan

The 14-week public consultation period on the draft early learning and childcare strategy ended on 24 March of this year, with 468 responses received. My officials are undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the responses received to the consultation survey and additional written responses, along with the findings from public consultation events. The findings from the consultation will be published in due course. During the consultation period, it became clear that some school-age childcare providers and representatives were concerned that their part of the sector was not as visible in the actions in the strategy as they would have liked and nor was their important role clearly represented in the strategy. I fully recognise the valuable contribution of school-age childcare provision and have already extended the Northern Ireland childcare subsidy scheme to school-age children in September of last year, acknowledging the important role that school-age providers play in supporting working parents. As my officials complete the analysis of the responses to inform a final version of the strategy, they will continue to work closely with school-age childcare stakeholders to refine the terminology, enhance the visibility of school-age provision and ensure that the final strategy document appropriately recognises the role that school-age childcare plays in supporting parental employment and positive outcomes for children.

Mr Givan

I thank the Member for her question. I spoke about the concerns that were articulated in the consultation responses. We are reflecting on and assessing those concerns. I have outlined how we will do that before I bring a final strategy to the Executive. On non-statutory settings, by which I mean the providers, often in schools, of wrap-around services, I say to the Member that I benefited from such a wrap-around service for my children. The primary school that they attended offered a very affordable way to provide that additional care before school started and after it ended. I am concerned that we could dilute that provision, because it is often a cost-effective and convenient way for parents to have their children supported. I appreciate that there are tensions in the sector around how to best deliver childcare, but it is best to inform parents by giving them all the evidence so that they can decide where to send their child. We ought to be careful not to be so prescriptive as to say, "You can send your child only to provider x, and you will not be supported if you use alternative means". There is value in the current non-statutory settings and in the wrap-around service that is provided in our primary schools, and I would be wary about undermining that provision.

Mrs Erskine

I thank the Minister for the work that he is doing on childcare, because it is a major issue for parents. Parents in my constituency have been in touch with me. While they welcome the expansion of the Northern Ireland childcare subsidy scheme, they have seen providers' childcare costs rise. As the Minister, do you recognise the impact of that? What discussions are taking place to ensure that families see the impact of the money being delivered by your Department?

Mr Givan

I thank the Member for her questions and for her comments. The affordability of childcare is a real issue for many families. That is why we introduced the childcare subsidy scheme. We stood it up at pace. We linked it to the tax-free system in the United Kingdom, because that provided the appropriate assurances and vetting to make sure that people were eligible. That has delivered significant financial savings, yet costs have continued to rise. The reality is that providers face additional costs through increased National Insurance contributions and inflation. Those costs are then often passed on. I increased the subsidy cap by 10% after the first year to recognise the inflationary pressures. We continue to increase that to reflect the inflationary pressures, so, when it comes to the subsidy, a 15% reduction is still a 15% reduction. Costs are rising. We seek to provide the best possible support for families through the scheme. I know that more fees will be communicated to parents in the next weeks. We are now able to collect significant data. We know what is being charged, and there is a high level of variance associated with that. We need greater transparency on that and greater information for parents, both of which will help inform their decisions about where to send their child.