A £75 million programme offering free childcare to low-income families has been launched by the
Government.
By enabling parents to take up access to training opportunities and improving their job
prospects, the Government claims the childcare scheme will help lift families out of poverty.
The programme will be offered to homes where one parent is working and the second parent
wishes to improve their skills so they can return to work. Workless families who cannot get support
elsewhere will also be eligible.
Minister for skills, David Lammy, said: “We know that having good childcare provision in
place is essential to enable parents to access training. This initiative provides support to help
low-income parents improve their skills so they can not just get work but get on at work.”
The Learning and Skills Council will deliver the programme, which will initially be rolled
out to the 67 local authorities with the highest number of eligible families. It will be extended
across all local authorities in September 2009.
£75m childcare scheme for low-income families launched