Co-production in Manchester’s Wraparound Childcare Expansion Programme

To celebrate Co-production Week, Euan Loveridge (Manchester City Council’s Project Manager for the School-age Childcare programme) sent us this article sharing the outcomes of the Wraparound Childcare expansion programme in Manchester and highlighting the importance of co-production in the development and implementation of the project, as well as to its future as the programme moves forward with a broader focus on school-age childcare.

The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) programme was announced in the Spring Budget 2023. The goal was that by 2026, all parents of primary school children who need it would be able to access childcare from 8 am to 6 pm during term-time in their local area to help them work and improve job opportunities.

Manchester City Council worked with primary schools and childcare providers across the city in this expansion and by March 2026, 2,240 wraparound childcare places were created as a result.

A key principle of Manchester’s approach to the programme was co-production, ensuring that the voices of those directly involved in delivering and using wraparound childcare services helped shape our approach from the outset.

To guide the work, we:

Established a Task-and-Finish Group bringing together childcare providers, Local Authority officers and a representative from Manchester Parent Carer Forum to provide insight, scrutiny and support throughout the project;
Engaged schools and private childcare providers to gather their views and explored the practicalities and viability of creating or expanding wraparound childcare provision in their settings, as well as the challenges to overcome;
Issued parental demand surveys to gather evidence on the childcare requirements of local families, helping to inform decision-making and identify areas where provision could be developed;
Consulted providers on their training preferences to ensure that any development opportunities reflected their needs and priorities;
Worked collaboratively with both private providers and schools to develop mutually beneficial solutions based on their engagement with communities.

Members of the project team also attended a co-production session with Manchester Parent Carer Forum to understand the needs of families of children with SEND. This feedback was taken into our planning, particularly supporting children with transitions and training was commissioned on increasing understanding of neurodiversity and enabling child-led play for all.

By bringing partners together, sharing expertise and considering different perspectives, we were able to identify opportunities that supported children and families.

Unfortunately, we were not able to support a specialist SEND school to create wraparound childcare provision. We held numerous discussions with specialist schools in Manchester but despite desire from all parties to create a provision that worked for the children and families, we could not overcome the considerable financial challenges involved without additional sources of funding.

Nevertheless, we are very pleased to have exceeded our target of 1,880 wraparound childcare places to be expanded in this programme and it was a pleasure to see through our monitoring that children with SEND were able to access these places as staff felt more confident in meeting children’s needs after attending training.

More information on the WAC programme can be found at https://www.manchester.gov.uk/schools-education-and-childcare/childcare-and-nurseries/what-is-wraparound-childcare/wraparound-childcare-expansion-programme

With the team’s focus now on broader school-age childcare (including Free Breakfast Clubs, holiday care and the Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) programme) in Manchester, we have already expanded our Task-and-Finish Group and will continue to engage in co-production with families who use and need childcare to inform our support for, and development of, provision.

Below are some photos from the Wraparound Childcare Conference in June 2025: