10 signatures reached
To: Kemi Badenoch MP
Support affordable childcare in Saffron Walden
We ask you, as our MP, to:
- Explain how your proposed £700 million childcare commitment would benefit the wider population of families.
- Champion new school-based nursery places in Saffron Walden.
- Secure a clear timetable for free breakfast clubs and wraparound care at every local state-funded primary school.
- Press for a proper assessment of local childcare needs.
Why is this important?
Saffron Walden families need affordable childcare - not just a change to the £100,000 earnings cap.
Dear Mrs Badenoch,
As parents, carers and residents of Saffron Walden, we are writing to ask you to champion better childcare provision for local families.
You recently announced a Conservative policy to remove the £100,000 income ceiling on funded childcare, at an estimated national cost of £700 million a year.
We recognise that the existing cliff edge, introduced in 2017, is unfair. It can leave parents substantially worse off when their earnings increase, discouraging work and career progression, particularly for women. It needs reform.
But lifting the earnings cap alone does not solve the bigger problem. We estimate your proposal could benefit as few as 40 Saffron Walden families.
Yet our town has around 930 children under five, whose families also need accessible nurseries, affordable wraparound care and breakfast clubs that help parents work and children thrive.
Yet our town has around 930 children under five, whose families also need accessible nurseries, affordable wraparound care and breakfast clubs that help parents work and children thrive.
Our town currently lacks the early-years infrastructure available in some other communities.
The Government is investing in new school-based nurseries and rolling out free breakfast clubs to every state-funded primary school. We want Saffron Walden to benefit fully from these programmes.
We recognise your responsibilities as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, but Saffron Walden also needs a strong constituency voice from our MP to champion the needs of all local families.
We therefore ask you to:
- Explain how your proposed £700 million childcare commitment would benefit the wider population of families, rather than simply extending benefits to those excluded by the £100,000 threshold.
- Champion new school-based nursery places in Saffron Walden, working with Essex County Council, local schools and the Department for Education.
- Secure a clear timetable for free breakfast clubs at every local state-funded primary school, and support affordable before- and after-school care.
- Press for a proper assessment of local childcare needs, including nursery places, waiting lists, costs and the impact of new housing developments, alongside better-integrated early-years and family services.
We would welcome your public response, including the practical steps you are prepared to take on behalf of families in your constituency.
Yours sincerely,
Parents, carers and residents of Saffron Walden
Supported by the undersigned.
Notes on the figures
The estimate of 40 families potentially benefiting from the Conservative proposal is based on local population and household estimates, with an allowance for the proportion of families earning over £100,000. The figure of approximately 930 children under five is based on the latest population estimates for Saffron Walden. These are indicative estimates in the absence of official counts of childcare eligibility.
