Report: Parliamentary Inquiry into childcare for disabled children

The Inquiry held three oral evidence sessions and put out a call for written evidence, which received 35 responses from organisation representing parents, providers and local authorities as well as over 1000 parent/carers shared their experiences of finding affordable, quality childcare for disabled children.

Key findings include:

• Parent carers are often charged higher than average fees: 86% of parent carers who responded to the Inquiry’s survey reported paying £5 or more per hour, with 38% paying £11-20 and 5% paying more than £20. This compares to the national averages of around £3.50 – 4.50 per hour.
• 41% of parent carers who responded to the Inquiry’s survey said their children did not access the full 15 hours of the free entitlement for early education for three and four year olds.
• 33% of parent carers say that the lack of experienced staff was the reason for not accessing childcare, echoing concerns evident in the Childcare and early years survey of parents 2012-2013.
• 92% of parent carers say finding childcare for disabled children is more difficult than for non-disabled children.
• Nearly all of the parents questioned (86 per cent) also said that they paid more than the average for childcare and around three-quarters of parents had cut their working hours or left jobs because of problems accessing appropriate childcare.