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Dear Rod,
The move to cut the subsidy for pre-school education is outrageous! First of all the threshold has been set far too low- think about it- you are targeting families where both partners earn in the region of £40,000 each. This is not a big salary and just above the average income bracket. Most importantly however you have to consider the fact that the people you are targeting are paying the highest tax contribution but with this move receiving nothing in return! Nor are we able to claim back on our taxes for having a registered child carer in the years leading up to early years education. It is such a backward move. All children should be allocated the same basic early years subsidy simply based on our tax contributions. The fact that we are choosing to pay on top for extra hours in a private nursery is irrelevant! Furthermore- and perhaps most importantly you are discouraging women from going back to work! More often than not it will be their additional income that is pushing families' salaries above the 75k mark- and this new cut is not making it worthwhile for women, wishing to work part-time in those early years to go back into employment. It is a completely backward move that does not belong in the 21st century. Lastly, you are uprooting children who have begun their nursery education by forcing their parents to consider other states run alternatives. Overall it is a badly, if at all considered decision that is having a negative impact on children and middle-income families- and then what you are doing on top of all that, instead of encouraging women back to work- is punishing them! Think again. Please.