Daycare Trust publish the eighth holiday childcare survey, which explores the issues of cost and availability of holiday childcare in Britain, sponsored by Imagine Co-operative Childcare.

Weekly holiday childcare costs

This years' survey shows that although the average weekly cost of holiday childcare this year has fallen slightly in England by 1% since 2008 to £90.86, the typical cost of holiday childcare in 2009 varies between £62.70 a week and £113.72 a week. The overall picture suggests that despite gradual improvements, parents still face a postcode lottery in finding affordable and appropriate holiday childcare, with huge variation between and indeed within the regions and nations.

Public or private?

Local authority run provision is almost always cheaper than private and voluntary provision, in some regions by a huge margin. For example in Inner London the typical cost of local authority holiday childcare is £62.70 whereas the typical cost of private provision is £107.26. In many areas, there is substantial local authority subsidy to keep costs to parents low, but clearly the level of subsidy varies wildly between local authorities and regions.

Sufficient childcare?

Our survey shows that the availability of holiday childcare is improving slowly in England, but there are still serious concerns about sufficiency of holiday provision overall, with only one third of English Families Information Services at local authorities saying that there is enough holiday childcare for all children. There continue to be particular gaps in sufficiency for disabled children and children aged 12 and over, in all three nations, which is of particular concern bearing in mind the government's welfare program which encourages single parents with older children to make themselves available for work or face cuts to their benefits.

Recommendations:

•Urgently increase holiday childcare provision, particularly given the growing number of working parents and their increased importance within the government's welfare reform programme.
•Central government must provide sustained subsidy to local authorities so all parents are able to access affordable, high quality holiday childcare.
•Local authorities must monitor holiday provision closely this summer especially where provision is decreasing and where there are persistent gaps in sufficiency.
•Central government must Increase the proportion of childcare costs paid through tax credits to 100 per cent; increase the maximum levels that can be claimed by region to accommodate childcare costs in expensive areas.
•Increased funding for Family Information Services at local authorities to reflect their wider role and improve capacity, so they can provide a brokerage role for holiday childcare.

Daycare trust Joint Chief Executive Alison Garnham said:

"Affordable and high quality holiday childcare is crucial for parents especially in the current recession. Parents must not have to choose between giving up work or leaving their children unsupervised because they cannot find or afford holiday childcare. But holiday childcare should not just be about providing a babysitting service for hard pressed parents. High quality holiday childcare can provide children with a stimulating, entertaining and educational experience during school holidays, helping them to make new friends, stay fit and healthy and maybe learn something at the same time."

Tracy Wilson, Operations Manager of Imagine Co-operative Childcare said:

"This is our third year of supporting The Daycare Trust's Holiday Costs Survey, and we are very proud to be associated with such an informative publication. Childcare during the school holidays has always been a challenge for working parents, particularly in the current economic climate. We would encourage all working parents to join a childcare voucher scheme so that even those with older children can benefit from Holiday Clubs by spreading the costs across the year."

For more information, visit www.daycaretrust.org.uk