On 19 June 2012 the Prime Minister announced a commission on childcare to look at how to reduce the costs of childcare for working families and burdens on childcare providers.
The commission will report in the autumn. It will look broadly at relevant issues and particularly consider three key themes:
- Ways to encourage the provision of wraparound and holiday childcare for children of school age.
- Identifying any regulation that burdens childcare providers unnecessarily because it is not needed for reasons of quality or safety.
- How childcare supports families to move into sustained employment and out of poverty.
The commission will draw on the knowledge and views of a wide range of experts in the field, together with international evidence on high-quality, affordable childcare. Terms of reference for the commission are available to download.
The work of the commission will be informed by a call for evidence which ran from 19 July to 31 August 2012.
