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Council breaking new ground

Published: 09/11/2016

Flintshire County Council has been successful to be chosen as one of six councils across Wales to take part in the early implementation phase of the Welsh Government’s childcare offer. The Welsh Government has committed to expanding its offer for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds up to a maximum of up to 30 hours a week of free early education and childcare for 48 weeks of the year. Following the announcement today, the Leader of Flintshire County Council, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said: “We always try to put supporting families at the heart of our work. Helping hard working parents to balance raising children with their working lives needs childcare to be more flexible as well as more affordable. Our partnership with the Welsh Government in supporting more families to access childcare than ever before is a key step in delivering that commitment. This is excellent news and I am particularly heartened to learn that Welsh Government was impressed with Flintshire’s multi-disciplinary approach, showing that people from a range of disciplines and backgrounds were committed to making a difference for families. The fact that Flintshire’s leadership was supportive from a very early stage was also important.” Once the offer has been developed, it will be tested in the six local authority areas from the autumn of 2017 to make sure it works for parents and childcare providers, followed by wider roll-out.