Thank you to everyone who has supported and shared this petition! It has taken me quite a while to get some traction (I'm not in the childcare industry, just a parent), but I'm not giving up and couldn't have done it without you! As well as the support of a Facebook group, very appropriately called "Champagne Nurseries on Lemonade Funding". There has been some success with the media picking up on the petition since it started including Birmingham Mail and Made in Birmingham TV, thank you! I was laughed off Channels 5's The Wright Stuff by Matthew himself, but I will continue to push for more coverage. I have just sent the email below to Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families with the view of obtaining a meeting to raise our concerns. I will keep you posted on the progress and thank you again! Dear Nadhim, I’m emailing to request a meeting with you to discuss various concerns on the 30 hours free childcare initiative. I thought our childcare bill would significantly reduce when our son became eligible for 30 hours free childcare, as it was effectively doubling the universally available 15 hours of free childcare. I soon found this wouldn’t be the case and when I investigated further, I found it wouldn’t be the case for many parents in the same situation either. So, why haven’t we benefited from lower childcare bills? This was a question I took up with many nurseries and childminders alike and the answers were pretty much the same – underfunding! It seems childcare providers are being paid varying hourly rates depending on their region and those rates are less than the actual costs of providing childcare, or NMW for those self-employed childminders. This has led to various results across the childcare sector, from the initiative not being offered at all, to nurseries increasing their fees and restricting the number of “free” hours parents can obtain a day. I know as a business owner (although not in childcare) that this initiative comes at a time of rising business costs. Wages, pension auto enrolments, and rising energy prices are just some of those rising costs. We’re already starting to see the devastating impact of this initiative with multiple nurseries closing their doors for good as a direct result. It seems wrong that an initiative designed to make childcare more affordable in order to increase employment is actually resulting is some nursery owners and their staff losing their livelihoods. Equally, we cannot risk reducing the supply of good quality and affordable childcare, if we, as a society are to address the issues in which working families, predominately women, face in maintaining their employment after having a family. The gender pay gap we’re supposed to be closing, the women we want to see in our boardrooms, where will we find them to hire if they’ve been unable to return to work after having a family? The principle behind the initiative itself is right, but the way it’s being delivered is wrong. You might question or even dismiss my views, but these are not just my views, I am representing the views of 2,780 people who have signed the petition I started, calling for a review of the 30 hours "free" childcare initiative. Also, as many providers have said, it’s funded, not free childcare! I am fairly local to you and would welcome the opportunity to discuss our concerns face to face. Please let me know how I can obtain an appointment directly with you? Kind regards Sarah