Swansea East MS welcomes launch of new Childcare Offer digital service

Swansea East MS welcomes launch of new Childcare Offer digital service

Welsh Labour’s Member of the Senedd for Swansea East, Mike Hedges, has welcomed the launch of a new national digital service which will streamline the recently extended Childcare Offer for parents and childcare providers.

The Childcare Offer has also been extended to more families, and parents in education and training can now apply for up to 30 hours of government funded early education and childcare for children aged three and four.

Currently the Childcare Offer is delivered by local authorities who use different systems to process parent applications and pay providers for Childcare Offer hours provided. The national digital service will replace these systems so that every local authority, parent, and childcare provider will use one single service.

Welcoming the new national digital service, Mike Hedges said:

“I’m pleased that the Welsh Labour Government has launched the new Childcare Offer digital service. The ground-breaking Childcare Offer is making a real difference to parents across Swansea East. Having a single, national system will ensure a simple, streamlined service for both parents and childcare providers.

“I am committed to supporting working families with the costs of childcare, so I am pleased that the Welsh Labour Government is able to increase the number of families accessing the offer.”

The new national digital platform is available bilingually online and can be accessed on mobile devices including tablets and mobile phones and will ensure parents and childcare providers across Wales have the same experience no matter which local authority area they live in.

Parents eligible to receive the Childcare Offer from January 2023 will be able to apply from now through the new service.

Parents already accessing the Offer will not need to do anything and will remain within their local authority system. However, if they wish to receive Childcare Offer funding for another child from January 2023, they will need to apply via the national digital service.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The Childcare Offer for Wales provides 30 hours a week of government-funded early education and childcare for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds, for up to 48 weeks of the year.

As of June 2022, there were over 18,000 children accessing childcare funded by the Childcare Offer