Families face £1,045 bill for summer holiday clubs

Families paying for holiday clubs this summer now face a bill of £1,045 for six weeks’ care for one child – a rise of 6%.

A survey of councils across Great Britain, by charity Coram Family and Childcare, also suggests a shortage of places – particularly affecting children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Providers say they are trying to keep costs down as they struggle with staff shortages.

The government says it is providing support to low-income families.

In Birmingham, Harborne School’s Out owner Claire Johnson is expecting a busy summer – her club has been booked up for months.

“With the people I have turned away, I could run a completely new club but I don’t have the staff or a big enough venue,” she says.

During term time, Mrs Johnson runs an after-school club, because three of the local primary schools’ clubs are completely full.

And whenever she has to raise prices, it is a “really big decision” – including this year, when the cost of a full day, from 07:30 to 17:30, will rise from £35 to £38.

“It is already a low-paid job for staff, so it is very much a passion for everybody who works in the sector,” Mrs Johnson says.

At pick-up time, John and Katriona Virgo say the holiday and after-school club in Harborne has been “fantastic”, particularly on election day, when the school turned into a polling station and it ran a last-minute holiday club.

Their summer will involve clubs, annual leave and grandparents happy to help – “with a little persuasion”.

Across Great Britain, the average cost for a child in full-time holiday clubs for six weeks was now a record £1,045, Coram found.

Compared with last year, the data suggests, prices have risen:

• 5% in England
• 4% in Scotland
• 15% in Wales

“Too many families dread the onset of the summer holidays,” Coram Family and Childcare managing director Ellen Broomé says.

“Finding a place will be a challenge this summer, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities.”

Event manger and public-speaking coach Dani Wallace, who has three children, describes the summer holidays as “organised chaos”.

Holiday clubs are unaffordable. “It’s just not feasible when there’s three of them”, Ms Wallace says.

None of the clubs caters for her eldest son’s additional needs. In the past, he has found them “noisy and quite intimidating”.

And she has to rely on family to help out.

“It’s been a real struggle over the years to find what works for us,” Ms Wallace says.

For solicitor and positive-psychology coach Emma Stirk, holiday clubs have been a lifeline.

But this year, prices in Yorkshire, where she lives, have risen by 13% – the biggest jump in England.

During the summer, her whiteboard comes out and Ms Stirk fills in the days she is taking off, those her husband is on leave and the ones her two children attend clubs.

“Some of the clubs are between £30, £40, £50 – multiplied by two – and you’ve got lunch and getting them to and from it,” she says.

“Plus, the clubs we used were sort of 09:00 till 15:00, so by the time you’ve taken them somewhere, you’ve not got a full working day done.”

It has been a difficult few years for the sector, following the pandemic, when many out-of-school clubs closed their doors.

The Out of School Alliance, which represents providers, says the picture is mixed across the country.

“We hear about availability being down – but I’ve got providers who are talking to us about how their demand is so low they haven’t recovered past Covid,” chief executive Rebekah Jackson Reece says.

“They are really struggling financially due to increased rents, lack of ability to find staff and schools becoming inherently more interested in running their own provision as their budgets are squeezed.”

There needs to more understanding of parents’ needs and matching that with existing provision, Ms Reece adds.

The Welsh government said it offered three- and four-year-olds of eligible parents 30 hours’ funded childcare up to 48 weeks a year.

“During the summer holidays, we are funding the Playworks scheme, which provides high-quality play, and the Food and Fun scheme will be available in every local authority area,” an official said.

The Scottish government said it had announced a £16m investment in six communities, to understand what it took to deliver year-round local childcare systems.

“A further £4m has been invested in the Extra Time Programme, a joint initiative with the Scottish Football Association, to provide up to 3,000 free places per week at before- and after-school clubs, and holiday clubs, for children from families on low incomes,” an official added.

The Department for Education in England said local authorities were expected to offer the equivalent of six weeks’ Holiday Activities and Food Programme provision, which provides meals, activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families.

“Too often, childcare is unavailable or unaffordable, particularly for disadvantaged children or those with additional needs – and we are determined to rebuild opportunity for every child,” an official said.

• England: £173.14 – up 5%
• Wales: £208.82 – up 15%
• Scotland: £167.49 – up 4%
• Yorkshire and the Humber: £173.32 – up 13%
• Inner London: £152.56 – up 8%
• South East: £215.68 – up 3%

Source: Coram Holiday Childcare Survey