Autumn Statement makes no mention of additional support for early years
Today’s Autumn Statement from Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond made no mention of additional support for the early years sector. While the Chancellor’s speech covered a variety of areas – including banning letting agents’ fees and raising tax-free personal allowances – the Chancellor did not reveal any plans to better fund or support […]
Labour MP proposes early years inquiry
Labour MP Helen Jones called for an early years inquiry at a parliamentary debate on free childcare on Monday. The debate was prompted by a government e-petition calling for ‘free childcare when both parents are working, not just those on benefits’, and looked at the issues facing the early years sector including underfunding and […]
Alliance writes to parliament ahead of Autumn Statement
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has written to all members of Parliament ahead of the Autumn Statement which is due to be released this week on Wednesday 23 November. The Alliance has written on the topic of early years funding and – as part of its Fair Future Funding campaign – has asked each MP to write […]
Family and Childcare Trust calls for Early Excellence Fund
The Family and Childcare Trust has today released a report titled ‘Putting quality at the heart of the early years’, which has called on the government to invest in an Early Excellence Fund. The fund would be designed to support four key aims: to ensure there is at least one experienced early years graduate […]
LSE report shows that early years provision improves children’s social skills
The London School of Economics and the University of Oxford have today released a report claiming that children that spend more time in early years provision have better social and everyday skills. The report ‘The development and happiness of very young children’ by Professor Paul Anand of LSE and Dr. Laurence Roope of the […]
State of the Nation report calls for doubling of EYPP
The Social Mobility Commission has today released its State of the Nation 2016 report which has called on the government to double the early years pupil premium (EYPP). The report also said that the government should introduce a new parental support package at key points in a child’s life to stop from children falling […]
Children are spending more time online than ever before, Ofcom claims
A study from Ofcom has found that under-fives are spending more than four hours a day in front of a screen, and that, overall, children are spending more time online than watching television. The report found that three- and four-year-olds are spending an average of eight hours and 18 minutes per week online – […]
Ofsted report shows increase in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers
The latest early years dataset from Ofsted has shown an increase in the proportion of providers achieving ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ ratings from 86% to 91%, as at 31 August this year. Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that it was positive and impressive to see this increase. “In light […]
Alliance slams ‘Are nurseries safe?’ report from Good Morning Britain
Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, has criticised today’s Good Morning Britain report titled, ‘Are nurseries safe?’ The report investigated the overall safety of early years settings following the closure of an Ofsted-rated ‘good’ setting in which an undercover reporter found unsafe practices. Gill Jones, deputy director of early education […]
DfE must publish childcare delivery costs research following ICO ruling, Alliance says
The Alliance has called on the Department for Education to publish externally-commissioned research from Deloitte – used in the ‘Review of childcare costs: the analytical report’ in November 2015 – following a ruling from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The Alliance requested a copy of the Deloitte research in January 2016, and was told […]
DfE yet to publish report on cost of delivering early education
‘The cost and funding of early education’ report – part of the DfE’s Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) project – is still awaiting publication. The report was commissioned to economic consultancy Frontier Economic, and returned to the DfE in July this year. “We are at a loss as to why, at a […]
Government to extend availability of free entitlement following consultation
The government has concluded its consultation into the 30-hours scheme and, having considered the responses, has said it will extend the hours over which the funded hours can be delivered, to between 6am and 8pm (increased from between 7am and 7pm). Further action points include limiting the number of sites on which children can […]