A local mother has accused Monmouthshire County Council of disregarding the needs of working parents by failing to have an adequate Childcare Strategy in place.

Susan Baker told The Beacon: "Any Early Years Policy is supposed to be linked to the Childcare Strategy.

"This is to ensure that there is continuity of care for those children requiring childcare, but also eligible for early years funding.

"Working parents are unable to access the majority of provision such as playgroups and maintained settings, as these sessions are a maximum of 2.5 hours long.

"They need to be able to access provision within a childcare setting, but this issue has been totally ignored by the council".

Susan, who lives in Trellech, first discovered the flaws in the policy when she was looking to return to work as an auditor with the Prison Service, a job that takes her all over the country.

Her older child, Lucy, had been too young at first for LEA school based nursery provision; playgroups did not offer long enough sessions and privately run day nurseries in the local area could not offer any free places for the sessional educational provision to which her daughter would become entitled in the year following her third birthday.

"MCC needs to differentiate between spare capacity within playgroups and maintained settings, which the average working parent cannot access (as these are 2.5 hours long, term time only) and spare capacity within private day nurseries," said Susan.

"Monmouth town currently has three primary schools, but only one day nursery that is approved for early years funding.

"The other setting - Destiny's Child - has been refused the right to even apply for EY funding, on the basis that there is spare capacity. "

Susan, who has been complaining to County Council senior managers since June 2007, said: "When I met with the Chief Executive of MCC, he stated that the approved setting had five spare places. The unapproved setting had, at the time 14 children attending who were eligible for the funding, but did not receive it, because of the policy. This makes a total of minus nine.

"How can MCC define this as an excess of provision?

"With these figures known to them, MCC still refused an application for Early Years funding on the basis that the policy stated that there was an excess of places," said Susan.

There are three private day nurseries that wish to be approved to receive EY funding but all have been refused the right to even apply.

"They have also been refused the right to appeal, as 'you cannot appeal against a policy', Susan added. "All have children attending that are eligible, but do not receive this funding, because of MCC's refusal to approve the setting."

In addition to Destiny's Child, the other settings are Sunnybank Day Nursery in Chepstow, and Greenfields Day Nursery in Magor.

Jane Bateman, Director of Sunnybank Day Nursery in Chepstow, said they were desperate to become a register Early Education provider.

"All these children have working parents who require full day care for their children. Surely the fact that I have so many children in my preschool group demonstrates that there is an area of specific need in Chepstow and further early Education places are required.

"All these children have a right to funding that is being denied them because the nursery is not an approved Early Education Provider.

"They've actually denied my parents since January, spring term to the end of December, a total of £12,759.15p."

Accusing the council of discriminating against working mothers, Susan said: I think they believe that women should stay at home and bake a cake!"

Three petitions have been forwarded to the council, the Ombudsman has been informed and an independent investigator has been appointed to review the issue.