Working to ensure you have childcare to meet your needs
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When looking for childcare, do you ever feel that…
- there isn’t enough choice in your area,
- you can’t afford it,
- it’s not flexible enough to meet your working needs or
- the quality is not good enough?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on…
Following the introduction of the Childcare Act 2006, Cheshire County Council will have a new duty to ensure that there is sufficient quality, affordable childcare across the County for those parents/carers who need it to enable them to:
- take up or remain in work, or
- undertake education or training which could reasonably be expected to assist them to obtain work.
In addition, Cheshire County Council must ensure that childcare provision is suitable for disabled children.
The Children and Families Service must carry out an assessment that looks at the supply of, and demand for, childcare and whether this meets the needs of parents/carers. This assessment will look at the affordability, quality, choice and flexibility of the childcare in each area to meet the needs of working parents. Part of the assessment will concentrate on the demand for childcare. In the main, this will involve consulting with parents to find out about their childcare needs.
The final assessment, known as the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, will be the tool by which the County Council develops its planning and resources for childcare in the future. This document will be widely available across Cheshire for parents/carers and others to access and comment on.
If you would like to be involved in the consultation for the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment please contact Doreen-Ann Newsome Free on 0800 0852 863. Email Doreen-ann.newsome@cheshire.gov.uk
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