Vol. 520 No. 1
70 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if, in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, he will outline the way in which he will assist in the development of an out-of-school hours child care service by community groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15028/00]
The report of the interdepartmental committee on childcare recommended that funding be provided totalling £5 million per annum for community groups towards developing out of school hours services. The committee anticipated that the provision of this funding to less well off communities would address a number of issues, for example, the provision of low cost out-of-school child care for parents who are in the paid labour market, practical support for children who need additional support to maintain their interest in school, the promotion of parental and community involvement in engaging young people in school and community life and the provision of additional community based services for families.
As announced in Budget 2000, an annual allocation of £5 million has been provided to my Department to support provision of out-of-school hours childcare services in disadvantaged communities.
It is proposed that the £5 million funding will be mainly made available to the projects funded under the community development support programmes such as a community development programme; a family and community services resource centre programme, core-funded community and family support groups programme.
In keeping with the spirit of partnership which informs the way in which these community development programmes are managed in my Department, a working group representative of the local community development groups themselves and other interests and expertise in the childcare area has been set up to advise on the detailed design of this scheme and in particular issues such as criteria for applications, technical support needs, service standards, staff issues, etc.
A circular has issued to all projects funded under the community development support programmes. Given the need to allow sufficient time for groups to draw up and submit applications, there will be three separate rounds of funding with closing dates for receipt of completed applications as follows: 26 May 2000; 30 June 2000; and 22 September 2000.
A number of applications have been received for the first round of funding and the working group will meet to assess these applications.
A separate circular on the scheme will be prepared shortly for other local initiatives not currently funded under the community development support programmes who wish to apply for funding under the Department's out-of-school hours child care scheme.
