THINGS CONTINUE to move apace in the eld of the early years. No sooner had a rumour reared its head to suggest that ‘Funding Great Childcare’ was on its way, then the government announces ‘tax free childcare’. Well, this was something. Tax free childcare would certainly be of bene t to all those hard-pressed families. But hold on, there is some devil in this detail. is is not the start of a universal joined-up approach to funding the early years, or indeed the initiatives and proposals outlined in More Great Childcare. We should start with the positives. From 2015 – yes sometime after the next election – for every 80p that a working family spends on childcare through a new voucher scheme (that will eventually replace the employer contribution scheme that some of us currently can access) the government will add 20p, tax free, which could well see signi cant savings for many families. Apart from the late date of introduction, this is to be welcomed. However, you will note that this is for working families, including single parent working families. If you are a couple then both of you will need to be working, and there is some detail here still to be worked out. If one parent is unable to work because they are a carer then the couple may still be able to apply. However, if you will be claiming any aspect of Universal Credit you will not be eligible. is is not to say that you will lose out. e contribution toward childcare costs paid by the government under the proposals for Universal Credit also looks set to rise. So more good news. However, you can’t help but feel that if this is to be the case, and we can expect more proposals to be announced in the budget (later this week, as I type) and, later, in the spending review, then why has the government not taken the chance to really address funding. We keep saying it. ere is an over-riding need to make funding, and access to funding, much simpler. It reminds of the campaign for plain English. Keep it simple... I hope that whatever the nal ‘package’ looks like, not just for parents, but for providers also, it does not su er from the problems we currently have, such as a lack of su cient funding, parents unsure of what they can claim or access, and so on. We can hope. ere is also the concern that rising costs and in ation might render these bene ts impotent, but we shall see. Another thing that struck me when reading the tax-free announcement, was that families can bene t, even if each parent earns £150,000 a year. Now, if we are to have such a divided system of tax breaks, and it doesn’t seem likely that we will see an ‘all-forone’ approach any time soon, where does this ‘limit’ come from. I am no expert on ‘living’ standards, but a family with a combined income of between £150,000 and £300,000 a year, are not likely to face the same childcare choices as a family whose combined income takes them just out of the Universal Credit zone. is seems an odd upper threshold to me, but we shall know much more following the budget and spending reviews. Editor Neil Henty MSc eye@markallengroup.com