Page 3 - Jonathan Broadbery News Today

Official figures from Ofsted show the number of childcare providers and places has fallen since last year, raising fears over how the expansion of the funded hours will be met.

Plans to give working parents extra help with childcare costs are "unfairly targeted", charities say.

Early years leaders have urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to deliver “urgent reform” to the childcare system alongside adequate investment, following reports he is set to reject plans to expand free childcare provision.

More than half of eligible families are missing out on support through tax-free childcare accounts amid concerns this form of funding is too complex for parents and providers.

Some schools are due to close their doors to all pupils on Wednesday as a result of the strikes.

More than seven million children - many of whom had their education badly disrupted during the pandemic - face missing lessons today on the biggest day of strikes for over a decade.

Sam Lyon, an English teacher from Northampton, said: Today, whilst I strike, I am not catching up on school work. Im catching up on my family who suffer the most from the hours I work.

Striking teachers were pictured enjoying a weeknight pint on a day which has nearly 80 per cent of secondary schools close or restrict attendance for pupils.

The UK faces the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade as teachers join walkouts from university staff, train drivers, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards.

Tens of thousands of schools are due to be disrupted on Wednesday as members of the National Education Union stage walkouts.