Please find below a comment from Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance on the Elevate Great and Henry Smith Foundation report on ‘Financing in Early Education and Care’ which highlights key improvements that need to be made to ensure the early years sector can thrive.

Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, commented:

“We at the Alliance have long warned that a political focus on early years provision as ‘childcare’ to encourage parents to work, rather than vital early education that supports children’s learning would exacerbate disadvantage gaps and misunderstands completely the true value of early years education. As such, we welcome this report, and the call for high-quality early years provision to be considered a public good that all children can benefit from, regardless of socioeconomic status.

“We’re clear that the current funding system is not fit for purpose: under current levels of funding – particularly given the significant impact of national insurance increases – many providers are struggling to keep their doors open, while those that do are struggling to deliver the affordable, flexible service that families need. If we look to other countries, as the report does, we can see that greater investment and a simplified system deliver better outcomes.

“With the Best Start in Life strategy promising welcome change, we urge the government to take note of the insights provided by this research report when developing future early years policy.”