Proposal to offer free childcare to over twos in Guernsey withdrawn after sector concerns

Plans to offer free childcare to over twos in Guernsey have been withdrawn after bosses in the sector expressed their concerns.

They say labour and skill shortages, as well as issues around funding and housing, would make the change difficult to implement.

Politicians were set to debate the proposed policy this week but will now publish a review of the industry instead.  

Deputy Kazantseva-Miller says: "It became clear very quickly that the industry was facing many challenges that were making it difficult to meet the current childcare demand, never mind being able to grow the capacity and number of spaces available if childcare policies were extended.""We saw that it was premature to run before we could walk in, that we could not progress the ambition behind our amendment before the States could develop a better understanding of the challenges facing the childcare providers and how these could be addressed."The review will consult with people working in the childcare sector to listen to their concerns in a bid to work out how to address them.