What assessment has the Minister made of the economic impact of a lack of affordable, accessible childcare in Wales?
We know affordable, available and accessible childcare helps parents to work, supporting our drive to increase economic growth, tackle poverty and reduce inequalities. This is why we launched our Childcare Offer, supporting working families with the costs of childcare for 3-4 year olds, and why we recently expanded it to support parents in education and training.
However, I also understand that support with the costs of childcare is only a part of the answer. Finding appropriate childcare can be difficult for some families, particularly in certain areas or for those who work irregular hours.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure, as far as possible, that sufficient childcare is available in their areas to help parents to work or access education and training. To help them meet this duty they undertake Childcare Sufficiency Assessments (CSAs) which look at the supply of and demand for childcare and produce action plans to address gaps in provision which have been highlighted in their CSA.
As part of the assessment local authorities also need to consider the availability of childcare to support parents working atypical hours and improving the availability of Welsh medium provision. The assessments must also look at the barriers parents face when accessing childcare including the specific barriers faced by particular groups of parents for example, lone parent families, low-income families and families from Black Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds.
The CSAs are carried out every 5 years with the most recent being carried out this year and recently submitted to my officials for review. Following the review, a report summarising the themes of the CSAs and an overview of review findings will be published in 2023.