This project was one of the ‘super priorities’ in the Government Work Plan agreed earlier this year and P&R outlined what it had done in response to a written question from Garry Collins. Since Deputy Collins asked the question, it has been announced that a political oversight group had also been established.
In its written response, P&R said that it had also ‘re-allocated internal resource to lead the work, redeployed in-house key subject matter expertise... and supported a Government Work Plan funding request to bring dedicated legal resource into the programme team.’
But Deputy Collins was not particularly happy at the response. ‘It didn’t really answer my question, “what have you done in the last six months on this?” I guess not very much,’ he said.
‘Our families need our support now, not just words on paper... More and more young people and couples are deciding not to have children and our birthing numbers are falling, which is very concerning. High childcare costs, high rents and large mortgages are all factors in the mix.’
The oversight group is being led by P&R president Lindsay de Sausmarez and it includes representatives of the ‘engaged principal committees’.
Draft terms of reference have been produced and members have been asked for their comments before they are published.
P&R said this programme will also support the workstream on responding to the needs of the island’s young people, which calls for ‘extensive’ consultation and engagement with young islanders.
It intended to create pages on the States website where people can see details of the programme.
During his first term in the Assembly, Deputy Collins backed free childcare, which came into effect in 2014, but this was based on a means-test.
‘That was to be a temporary fix. Here we are now, 12 years on and still no move to universal,’ he said.
‘We need all our children supported from an early age. This allows them to benefit before school starts and also parents can both work, to contribute to high housing costs.’
He plans to take propositions to the Assembly’s budget or tax debates later this year to increase childcare hours and to push for universal cover and reduce other benefits to cover the cost.
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