The Department for Education responded to an ongoing petition calling for a review into childcare funding and affordability.

The petition calls for an independent review to identify what is needed to support the sustainability of childcare provision. The government has now dismissed the petition and stated:

“We are committed to supporting the sector to develop a workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to deliver high quality early education and childcare. We are investing £20m in high quality, evidence-based professional development for practitioners in targeted disadvantaged areas.

“In February 2021, we announced a further £10m for a pre-reception early language recovery programme to support early years staff in settings, and in June, we announced a further investment of up to £153 million over three academic years, including funding for training early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development.

“We are not currently planning a review of early years funding, but we continue to evaluate the support on offer and endeavour to provide support to both parents and providers to ensure the sustainability of the sector.”

Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance chief exec said:

“It beggars belief that at a time when hundreds of nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are closing every month, the government is refusing to commit to even conducting a review of early years funding.

“Only last week, we released private government documents which prove that the government has not only been knowingly underfunding the sector for years, but that they knew this would increase prices for parents and put quality at risk. Any claims, therefore, about “unprecedented investment into the early years” can only be seen as wholly disingenuous.

“Years of underfunding has left this country with one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world, locking many parents – and particularly, mothers – out of work, and resulting in an early years workforce that is overworked, underpaid and undervalued.

“The dismissal of this petition is incredibly short-sighted and shows a total disregard for our vital sector. Given the strength of feeling on this issue, not only from providers but increasingly from parents as well, we urge the government to urgently reconsider this indefensible stance.”

Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief exec of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said:

“This disappointing response yet again shows a government failure to recognise the huge pressure the sector has been under during the pandemic and the strength of feeling from parents and providers alike.

“We have provided a groundswell of research and evidence along with other organisations and government committees, but the government still refuses to engage with these problems.

“This week the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for early years and childcare wrote to the government to highlight the sector’s concerns and again calling for a review of the early years funding system.

“It is positive news that the Petitions Committee will be looking into this issue further and has commissioned a survey of parents and providers. We will be encouraging our members to take part and hope for a constructive debate of this issue shortly in Parliament.”