The childcare challenge: How can the new government deliver a real childcare guarantee?

The newly elected Labour government has picked up where the previous government left off, by committing to continuing the plans to roll out ‘free’ hours and develop a stronger childcare system more widely. Early education and childcare are central to the new government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity.

But the devil will be in the detail of delivery. The expansion comes on top a of a system which arguably has been creaking for some time, with a set of government funded entitlements that, while taken up widely, have been marred by problems with affordability, access and quality. These issues must be urgently addressed.

This paper assesses the inheritance of the new UK government, and considers some of the key delivery challenges and choices it faces in making a meaningful reality of the expanded offer for all children and families. In so doing, it seeks to reimagine childcare as a proper public service, genuinely capable of driving progress on the opportunity mission goals.