The government's childcare strategy is "not sufficient" to enable parents to work, a House of Commons report has concluded.

The report says childcare remains inaccessible and expensive for many parents, even though the government's National Childcare Strategy has improved the situation.

The Work and Pensions Committee said the government would not meet its 2010 targets on child poverty and lone parent employment if it did not further expand childcare provision.

And the report urged the government to switch resources from other budgets because of the importance of childcare and nursery education for children's life chances.

The social good

The report found that many low-income families were missing out.

Recommendations Government should invest more in childcare Roll-out Children's centres to 30% most deprived wards Childcare 'taster' weeks for all low-income families 'Taster' weeks for all low-income families to reassure them about childcare quality Expand provision under tax credits Employers should not be relied upon as key providers of childcare in the community Raise Further action to deal with regional variations in childcare costs Expand out-of-school childcare Address additional barriers faced by parents of disabled children Provide more help to informal childcare providers to register as childminders

There was also an "information gap", which made it difficult for people to find out about childcare provision in their local areas.

It said "Children's Centres" should be rolled out to the 30% most deprived wards by 2006.

"In our view this would make a significant impact on the lives of poor children and their families and would make an important contribution to the child poverty and lone parent employment targets," the report said.

Further help was also needed for disadvantaged families living in areas where childcare was very expensive, the report said.

Credit expansion

Since April 2003, many families receive help for childcare through new tax credits.

The committee wants the government to consider relaxing the qualifications for childcare provision within the credits - and increase the money available for families with two or more children.

However, the committee does not recommend extending tax credits to cover informal care, because it would be too costly.

Taster weeks

The report also recommends setting up childcare 'taster' weeks to help families get back to work.

Its purpose would be to try and reassure people on low-incomes that their children were being cared for in "quality childcare settings".

"This would ensure that the childcare market is not stifled by the lack of demand from parents who are concerned about using formal childcare provision," it said.