Parents are bracing themselves for the potentially shattering fall-out should plans go ahead to axe school breakfast clubs and reduce the number of hours that are funded for 3+ pre-school education.
Cash-strapped schools have been informed over the past few days by Powys County Council (PCC) that they can stop the breakfast clubs should they wish, despite a Welsh Government policy that they are obliged to provide if parents ask for one.
And in an added blow to the parent pocket, there is a proposal on the table to reduce the number of funded hours for 3+ children from 12.5 to 10 hours per week, meaning just two hours of free playgroup per day. Some parents are already paying in excess of £3,000 a year to put their children into pre-school since PCC raised the school starting age in 2017.
“Reducing provision from 12.5 to 10 hours is one of the savings proposals being considered by the cabinet as part of the budget debate,” said a PCC spokesperson. “Cabinet will consider the budget on February 12, before the recommendations go to full council.”
Both ideas have been labelled as “awful” by PCC Anti-Poverty Champion, Cllr Joy Jones, who said “all these cutbacks are having a detrimental effect on families and children wellbeing”.
“This will hit many families throughout Powys and will have an impact on families having to pay the extra costs if working to provide their childcare,” said Cllr Jones. “With some families already struggling with the introduction of universal credit, this pushes families to the edge of poverty.”
In Powys, children do not start school until the following September after their fourth birthday, meaning some children are nearly five before they start their full-time education.