A FORMER Evening Press Business Of The Year award-winner today hit out at the region's employers for failing to take advantage of childcare vouchers.

Rosie Pressland, principal of Pocklington Montessori School, lashed bosses for "not taking advantage of solutions to dire employment problems that are under your very noses".

Mrs Pressland, who was the national Employer Of The Year two years ago, said the Government's scheme could solve much of York and North and East Yorkshire's well-documented problems of recruitment and retention of staff.

"Yet since the scheme began last April, only about 19 per cent of employers have paused, taken stock and acted on this scheme. Why?

"The scheme offers both employers and employees huge tax breaks and at the same time gives staff a childcare package."

Each parent of a child between the ages of zero and 15 can benefit by up to £55 per week per child via the voucher scheme.

Over the first 15 years of the child's life the vouchers can be used to pay for registered private nurseries, childminders, holiday and out-of-school play schemes. Over 15 years it amounts to £40,000 per child.

The vouchers are exempt from National Insurance contributions, "so by signing up to this scheme an employer like me who pays 12.4 per cent of every employee's salary would find themselves saving 4.4 per cent on their NI bill. At the same time the employee saves 100 per cent of their NI contributions".

She said that as principal of a school which includes four nurseries and baby units she has an interest, even though she has waiting lists.

"But the major driver here is to assist other businesses in York and North and East Yorkshire to recruit the very best people and keep them. We all know that to re-recruit costs an entire year's salary after recruitment fees plus the six months supervising and training process to get recruits up to scratch.

"I can't understand why bosses here shy away from what is effectively one of the best propositions they will have all year. Nobody is a loser and everyone's a winner.

"A huge advantage for the whole of our society is that children can get and benefit from high quality early years provision and that's a massive investment for us all."

Updated: 10:40 Monday, January 09, 2006