Member Article

Funding offered for workplace nurseries

Small and medium sized businesses are to be offered funding for workplace nurseries, it was announced today.

The Department for Education and Skills has declared a £16.8 million package of investment for SMEs to help provide childcare for their employees. The workplace nurseries capital scheme will be delivered by Regional Development Agencies.

Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children, Young People and Families, said: “We need to talk to parents about their childcare needs, but we also need to engage their employers. We want to ask them to help assess the childcare needs of their staff and raise awareness of the importance of family friendly policies. I want to see local authorities working closely with business as well as voluntary and private providers to ensure a diverse range of high quality care is available in every locality.”

The programme aims to make it easier for parents to balance their work and home lives, by helping employers provide reliable and accessible childcare appropriate to the needs of their employees.

Ms Hughes added: “Most good employers want to help families balance work and family life. Some are already providing childcare to make this happen - we want to take this further. “In partnership with Local Authorities, we will identify where workplace nurseries will be of most value to families, communities and businesses.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .