Petition Consider flexibility in the funded 12.5-hour childcare scheme for all 2 year olds across Wales.
As working parents who use formal nursery provision just two days a week, the current 12.5 hour childcare rule is completely inaccessible.
Restricting funded hours to rigid 2.5 hour daily slots over five days forces us to increase nursery hours or lose our childcare entitlement.
The policy fails working families by refusing to let these vital funded hours be compressed into our existing nursery schedules.
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We call on the Welsh Government to revise the statutory guidance for funded childcare schemes, specifically Flying Start, to allow the 12.5 weekly hours to be delivered flexibly, rather than restricted to 2.5 hours a day across 5 days.
The current rigid 5-day structure forces working parents to send their children to nursery for 5 days a week just to access their legal entitlement.
The scheme penalises families who use nursery 4 or less days a week and who are working alongside modern employment flexible shift patterns.
Allowing local authorities and providers the autonomy to compress these 12.5 hours into fewer, longer days would remove these barriers.
It will ensure working parents can fully utilise their funded care and support household economic stability. We believe doing this will encourage stronger developmental outcomes for children. We urge the Welsh Government to modernise this policy to support contemporary working life.
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