Labour shortage blocks debate on free childcare for over twos

Government engagement with the childcare sector found it could not cope with increased demand

A proposal offering free childcare for over twos in Guernsey has been withdrawn, pending a review of the island's labour sector.

The States was set to debate the policy looking at options for increasing childcare provision on Thursday.

Engagement with the sector ahead of the debate found it would struggle to cope with increased demand.

A childcare sector review could instead be launched - looking at the available labour and skills.

The politicians behind the proposal, Deputies Sasha Kazantseva-Miller and Heidi Soulsby, made the decision after talking to the Guernsey Pre-School Learning Alliance, childminders and the States Early Years team.

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Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said: "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."

A review into the childcare sector could now be launched by the Economic Development Committee, as part of its work on labour and skills supply, aiming to document the concerns of the island's childcare industry and how to address them.