Lord Sutherland calls on SNP to introduce free childcare immediately

The architect of Scotland’s free personal care policy has called on the SNP to implement their White Paper childcare promise now.

Lord Sutherland is chairing an inquiry into affordable childcare at Westminster. He previously chaired the commission that called for free personal care for the elderly 15 years ago. Only Scotland implemented his recommendations.

He has insisted that if the Scottish Government’s claims that a childcare giveaway promised in their independence blueprint would pay for itself are true they should get on with it.

He said: “I think if you can do this on a self-funding basis it seems evident that it’s beneficial for children and families. They have the powers to do a lot of things. This is one of the things they could do.”

The SNP have promised that, in an independent Scotland, pre-school children would be entitled to free childcare. They claim it would be transformational and allow more mums to get back to work.

However the numbers behind the policy have been questioned, with the Treasury in Westminster claiming there aren’t enough mothers willing to work and pay the tax which would fund it.

And, despite having the powers to implement the childcare pledge now, the SNP has ruled it out because, under current arrangements, the economic benefits would go to the Treasury in London.

Added Lord Sutherland: “They keep saying they can talk to the Treasury and do deals. This is one of the deals I’d want to do.”

Lord Sutherland’s House of Lords inquiry is focused on childcare in England though it’s likely to have implications throughout the UK with all the main political parties expected to make a childcare offer in their 2015 manifestos. He’s hoping the SNP will submit evidence to his team.

He said: “I’ve asked relevant government departments to be contacted and told we’re running this and any relevant evidence to be submitted. I can’t prejudge what will come in or what the committee might make of it. Personally, I’m sceptical of some of the claims made by the SNP.”

Labour last week raised the issue claiming the cost of summer holiday childcare had gone up £100 under the Coalition, a 16% rise far outstripping the rate of inflation.

Shadow childcare minister Lucy Powell predicted: “A summer of misery for many parents trying to balance work and family life in the holidays.”

Labour are currently promising to expand free provision from 15 to 25 hours a week for three and four-year-olds. The Coalition is set to introduce a tax break worth £2000 per child to bring down the cost. These competing claims are what triggered the inquiry. Explained Lord Sutherland: “The issue of affordable childcare is really very high profile. And there’s an election coming up. Each of the parties has signalled they’re going to have something in their manifesto.

“The hope is we can do something that is cross party that will look at the range of issues and perhaps put something fairly solid into the discussion.”

Lord Sutherland’s a former chancellor of Edinburgh University and he founded English education standards body Ofsted so he knows what he’s talking about. He also has personal experience of the issue. His wife set up the first playgroup in Dunblane back in the 1970s. Today, two of his five grandchildren live in Denmark having been born in Sweden, and experienced the Scandinavian system of state childcare.

He added: “I’ve seen the system through their eyes in both Sweden and Denmark. It’s not always all that it’s cracked up to be, but it’s a long way ahead of anything we have here.

“Over there they provide and that’s part of the social deal. It could work over here, if you’ve got enough money.”

The argument is more about affordability than childcare. The Scandinavian system is paid for through higher taxation.

Added Lord Sutherland: “If you increase the quality of provision in terms of an obvious marker say, we want everyone in childcare to have a degree that means wages go up and it also means the cost goes up. It’s either a cost that parents can afford or government would have to help. That’s the sort of thing we want to spell out.”

And in another apparent dig at the SNP he added: “We don’t want uncosted promises floating about.”