fairness – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Scotland’s children have their say

New National Charter sets out what children want from school-age childcare services

Kindness, community, fun and fairness are the priorities children in Scotland have identified for a future funded school-age childcare offer, according to the new Children’s Charter launched this week.

As part of the Children’s Charter – which will be used to co-design a system of school-age childcare – young people also shared their views on why childcare is needed, how it is funded, the people who should run it and the sorts of activities it should include.

Around 125 children from primary schools across Scotland created five local Charters for the best out of school care for their community. The groups of children later went on to collaborate on a National Charter, which will guide a future nationwide system of school-age childcare.

Children’s Minister Natalie Don met with some of the participants to the Charter during its formal launch at St Mungo’s School in Alloa.

Ms Don said: “Developing a system of school-age childcare is a key priority for the Scottish Government. Giving children the opportunity to get involved at the heart of policy making ensures that we design services that better meet their needs in the future.

“As we publish the Charter during Challenge Poverty Week, all of the children that took part share our ambition to put fairness at the forefront in a future childcare system. Not only will it reduce barriers for children to access a wide range of activities and support, it will also allow parents and carers to enter or sustain employment or increase their hours at work.

“I am grateful to all of the children who participated so meaningfully in this important exercise. Their input is a vital part of our Delivery Framework, which I am also pleased to be publishing today.

“The Framework sets out our key action areas for building a new system of school-age childcare and how we will continue to involve children, parents, providers and communities in delivering this.”

Irene Audain MBE, Chief Executive at Scottish Out of School Care Network said: “I welcome the launch today of the Children’s Charter for School-Age Childcare and the School-Age Childcare Delivery Framework.

“I firmly agree with the children’s priorities of Kindness, Fairness, Choice, Happiness, and Fun, in their ideal services, rooted in local communities where everyone is respected and looks out for each other, as this too is our ideal good quality service.”

Councillor Graham Lindsay, Education spokesperson at Clackmannanshire Council, said: “Our approach as a Scottish Government School Age Childcare Early Adopter Community has reflected the ambition of Clackmannanshire Family Wellbeing Partnership to tackle poverty and inequalities.

“Our Child Wellbeing Project has encouraged community groups and childcare providers in Alloa to work together to provide school-age childcare which is funded for priority families and this is already making a huge impact.

“St Mungo’s children thoroughly enjoyed participating in creating the National Children’s Charter for School Age Childcare and it is wonderful to see their hard work reflected at the launch today.”

Currently, all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds are able to take up 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare in Scotland. Work is underway with local authorities and other partners to phase in an expanded national offer for families with two-year-olds, as well as targeted early delivery of all age childcare for low income families.

School age childcare: national children’s charter – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Prepayment meter customers to pay less for energy from today

Prepayment meter households will no longer pay more on average for their energy than direct debit customers, as the UK Government scraps unfair charge

Unfair charge on prepayment meter customers scrapped
change will help around three million households and save on average £21 a year
together with the new energy price cap taking effect today, households will save hundreds of pounds on their bills

Fairness will be delivered for households today as the government scraps the unfair charge on prepayment meter customers.

The change, taking effect from today, will help around three million households using prepayment meters across Great Britain – bringing their bills in line with those who pay by direct debit, with the government stepping in to cover the difference.

Currently, households on the pay-as-you-go meters pay more on average than direct debit customers, as it costs suppliers more to service their homes – such as collecting payments or giving out vouchers – with the charges passed onto consumers.

Removing the prepayment meter premium means these households will save around £21 a year on their bills, making sure the system is fair and providing extra support to consumers who are typically on low incomes.

Scrapping the prepayment meter premium comes as Ofgem’s latest price cap takes effect today – which thanks to improvements in the wholesale market, will bring the typical annual energy bill down from £2,500 under the Energy Price Guarantee to around £2,074. This will help lower inflation – one of the Prime Minister’s five promises – as high energy prices drive up prices across the economy.

The fall in energy bills will save the average household around £426, or 17%, and means for every £100 previously spent on energy bills, consumers will now pay £83.

Energy Consumers and Affordability Minister Amanda Solloway said: “No one should be charged more for having a prepayment meter – today, we’re putting an end to this historic injustice.

“With households on prepayment meters typically on some of the lowest incomes, this is a vital change.

“Alongside the hundreds of pounds coming off energy bills from today, thanks to the fall in the price cap – this will offer extra help to ensure families stop being unfairly penalised.”

To ensure the prepayment premium comes to an end as quickly as possible, the Government will be funding the change up to April 2024. Ofgem as the energy regulator will be devising a plan that will eradicate it permanently after that date.

Earlier this year the government took steps to crack down on the abuse of prepayment meters by energy suppliers. The Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps demanded action from Ofgem and suppliers to put an end to wrongful prepayment meter installations in vulnerable households.

The government is clear moving customers to prepayment meters must always be the very last resort and has asked for regular updates from Ofgem and consumer groups to make sure all suppliers adhere to the regulator’s new Code of Practice – which puts measures in place to protect against them being installed in homes where they shouldn’t be.

Recent figures showed nearly £40 billion was spent by government between October 2022 and March 2023 to help keep household and business energy bills down, the most ever provided to subsidise household bills in UK history.

Over winter, the government covered nearly half a typical household’s energy bill and saved the average home roughly £1,500 by the end of June. That included providing £650 million to households on traditional prepayment meters through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The scheme saw vouchers totalling £400 issued over six months from October with latest figures showing 85% had been redeemed by the end of May.

While the deadline for applications has passed, that number is expected to rise with the last applications and reflected in figures due over the Summer.