{"id":602555,"date":"2026-05-25T06:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/602555\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T06:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T06:18:13","slug":"bridget-phillipson-to-ask-competition-watchdog-to-review-hidden-childcare-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/602555\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridget Phillipson to ask competition watchdog to review hidden childcare costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

They are concerned this may create a barrier for hard-pressed parents to get the childcare they need and will ask the CMA – which is tasked with promoting competition and protecting consumers – to investigate, the Financial Times first reported., external<\/a><\/p>\n

Ministers are concerned the offer of free childcare for many working parents is being undermined.<\/p>\n

After dismal results in local elections in England this month, the government is keen to demonstrate that it is taking practical steps to tackle the cost of living.<\/p>\n

Households are experiencing a rise in fuel prices<\/a>, and bracing themselves for higher energy and food bills because of the war in Iran disrupting supply chains.<\/p>\n

Among a flurry of government policy announcements aimed at easing cost of living pressures, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on Thursday that ticket prices for families at various attractions<\/a> such as theme parks, zoos and museums would be cheaper during the summer holidays through a cut to VAT.<\/p>\n

The chancellor also announced free bus journeys for under-16s in England in August and cuts to import taxes on some basic foods under a “Great British Summer Savings” campaign.<\/p>\n

More than 1.7 million parents in England now use government-funded childcare hours, according to Department for Education (DfE) figures.<\/p>\n

The average cost of full-time nursery – 50 hours a week – for a child under two in England is just under \u00a3149 per week in 2026.<\/p>\n

That is a 39% drop from last year, according to the latest annual survey from the Coram Family and Childcare charity, which tracks the cost of childcare in England, Scotland and Wales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They are concerned this may create a barrier for hard-pressed parents to get the childcare they need and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-602555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}