Miliband pledges to 'extend free childcare' but the Tories say its 'same old Labour'

Ed Miliband will today identify childcare as a key front in One Nation Labour’s battle to tackle the cost of living crisis. He will say parents who are already struggling to cope with rising bills and stagnant wages, are now facing a childcare crunch. He will publish new figures showing that since the last election:

• The cost of nursery places has risen by 30 % - five times faster than pay
• The average bill for a part time nursery place of 25 hours a week has gone up to £107.
• Parents working part time on average wages would have to work from Monday until Thursday before they paid off their weekly childcare costs.
• There are 576 fewer Sure Start centres – with three being lost on average every week.
• There are 35,000 fewer childcare places
• The Government’s offer of childcare for disadvantaged 2-year-olds is failing with 1 in 3 councils not having enough places

In contrast to the Government which has done nothing to support families over the past three years, Mr Miliband will set out Labour’s plan to:

• Extend free childcare for three and four year olds from 15 to 25 hours per week for working parents of three and four year-olds funded by increasing the banking levy
• Introduce a legal guarantee of access to wraparound care 8am to 6pm at primary schools

On a visit to a nursery with members of Labour’s Childcare Commission on Monday, Mr Miliband is expected to say: “Millions of parents are facing a childcare crunch. The cost of a nursery place is now the highest in history, at more than £100 a week to cover part-time hours. And average costs for a full time place are now rising up to £200 or even more. That means a typical parent doing a part time job would have to work from Monday until Thursday just to cover these costs of childcare. Rising prices have been matched only by falling numbers of places. David Cameron denounced Labour before the last election for warning that the Tories might put Sure Start at risk. But an average of three Sure Start centres is being lost every single week, contributing to a total of 35,000 fewer childcare places under David Cameron. And all at a time when the number of children under-4s in England has risen by 125,000."

Continuing Mr Miliband is expected to say: "This childcare crunch is affecting families with kids at school too. Parents are facing a daily obstacle course as they seek to balance work and family life. Under the last government 99% of schools provided access to breakfast clubs and after-school clubs. But more than a third of local authorities have reported this has been scaled back in their area under David Cameron. That’s what you get from this government: tax cuts for millionaires, cuts in childcare places for millions of families. The Tories say they care about families but they have done nothing to help for three years while all the time adding to the stress and strain of family life.

Mr Miliband is also expected to say: “If it’s bad for families, it’s bad for Britain too. Parents who want to work should be able to do so. We need to use the talents of everyone if we are to succeed as an economy and keep social security bills down. Seven out of 10 stay at home mums tell surveys that the cost of childcare has deterred them from looking for a job. One Nation Labour would stand up for families and make work pay. We would extend free nursery places for 3 and 4 year olds from 15 to 25 hours a week for parents at work. And we would offer a legal guarantee to parents with kids at primary school that they can access breakfast clubs or homework clubs, allowing Mums and Dads to do a full days’ work knowing their children are safe and cared for."

Mr Miliband wants to pay for his childcare extention by using another "bankers bonus tax" which was a one off tax, by the last Labour Government, which raised around £2.3bn. The Tories have responded to this by saying: It’s right that the banks pay their fair share as we cut the deficit – that’s why it was the Coalition Government who introduced the first ever levy on the banks.

They also claim that Labour have now committed themselves to spending the proceeds of bank tax revenues ten times over on eleven different things:

• Youth Jobs Guarantee – £1.04 billion
• Reversing the VAT increase – £12.75 billion
• More capital spending – £5.8 billion
• Reversing the Child Benefit savings – £3.1 billion
• Reversing Tax Credit savings – £5.8 billion
• More Regional Growth Fund funding – £200 million
• Cutting the deficit – ?
• Turning empty shops into community centres – £5 million
• Spending on public services – ?
• More housing – £1.2 billion
• Childcare – £800 million

Giving a total of at least £30.695 billion (not including the uncostable commitments to reduce the deficit and more spending on public services). This is more than ten times the £2.3 billion that was raised by Labour’s bonus tax that the last Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling, said could only be a ‘one-off’ and more than ten times the £2.5 billion that the Coalition Government’s permanent bank levy raises every year. The Tories say "It’s simply not credible for Labour to try and spend the same pot of money more than ten times over on eleven different things. All Ed Miliband and Ed Balls offer is the same old Labour policy of more spending, more borrowing and more debt. And it’s hardworking people who would pay the price through higher mortgage rates and higher taxes."