You are here: News Response to Department for Education's childcare innovation competition announcement
Responding to the Department for Education’s announcement that childcare.co.uk has won a competition to find innovative ways to help parents choose the right childcare, Julia Margo, chief executive at the Family and Childcare Trust said:
"We welcome the steps the Government has taken to improve information for families. However, we are concerned that this announcement pre-empts parliamentary scrutiny of the Childcare Bill and decisions of how we can make sure families can access accurate and timely advice about childcare in their local areas.
"Family Information Services – which operate throughout Britain – currently support hundreds of thousands of families, in finding, accessing and paying for childcare for free. It’s vital that we have more information about how this work will support information provision to families, many of them disadvantaged, in local areas, and how it will support the provision for strengthening information to families contained within the current draft of the Childcare Bill. We look forward to working with the Department for Education to find the best solution for families."
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Contact: Mark Bou Mansour, Communications and Campaigns Manager. Telephone: 0207 940 7535, mobile: 07538 334 772, email: mark@familyandchildcaretrust.org.
Notes to editor:
The Family and Childcare Trust coordinates the National Association of Family Information Services, and currently has a membership of 86 local authority Family Information Services in Britain.
The Family and Childcare Trust operates a free national childcare finder which takes childcare records from local authorities websites and puts them together in one place at www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/finder
Our at-a-glance graphic will show you the work of Family Information Services in England (2013/14)
About the Family and Childcare Trust
The Family and Childcare Trust aims to make the UK a better place for families. We are a leading national family charity in the field of policy, research and advocacy on childcare and family issues, with over 40 years’ experience. Our on-the-ground work with parents and providers informs our research and campaigns. We focus on the early years and childcare because they are crucial to boosting children’s outcomes throughout life and supporting parents to work.