I hope everyone had a restful break over Easter and had the chance to catch up with friends and family.
For those local families with children in nursery or primary school it’s now back to the morning rush to get them clothed and fed and in on time so you’re not late for work. And all of the costs that come with that.
I want to ease that burden for families in West Cumbria and the government has already made a start by delivering on several manifesto promises.
From this week, children at Seaton Academy, Beckermet Primary and Arlecdon Primary will benefit from a free, government-funded breakfast every morning, as they were chosen to be part of the pilot of our new Free Breakfast Club programme to ensure children are school ready and parents are better off. It will soon be rolled out to all local primary schools, meaning no more kids in West Cumbria going to school with empty bellies – a shameful legacy of the previous government.
We’re also making the school uniform shop this summer a bit cheaper by reducing the number of branded items schools can require parents to buy, giving you the option to buy more cheaper, unbranded clothes. Changes opposed by Conservative and Reform MPs.
Taken together, these measures will save local families up to £500 a year.
Those with younger children will benefit too. Too often I’ve heard the frustrations from parents who are seeing their wages disappear into sky-high childcare costs, or who aren’t able to get back to work at all because of these ballooning costs.
From September, we’re rolling out a massive expansion of free childcare so that parents will get 30 government-funded hours of childcare a week from when their child is 9 months old right up to starting school. Working parents could save up to £7,500 a year through the 30 hours of funded childcare, compared with paying for it themselves.
That kind of saving will be a huge help to family finances. And we’re doing it in a way that works for parents and for children.
We’ve got a challenge to grow capacity in the early years workforce and make sure the space is available in nurseries. So I’m delighted that two local schools have secured hundreds of thousands of pounds from the government to expand and improve their existing school-based nurseries.
Thornhill Primary and Eaglesfield Paddle are two of 300 schools nationally which secured investment from the government to open or expand nurseries which will deliver up to 6,000 new childcare places across the country – most of them ready by September.
We’re delivering our promises to parents: more nursery places, an expansion in government funded childcare, new breakfast clubs and cheaper uniforms. This government is putting children and families first. We’re boosting parents’ work choices and children’s life chances.
Josh MacAlister MP 