CYP Now - More than £100m earmarked for early years 'not being spent on places'

Early years providers are missing out on £105m in funding that had been earmarked for childcare places, research has found.

Early years settings have missed out on £229m in funding over four years, according to the National Day Nurseries Association. Picture: 1001 Colour/Adobe Stock

The money was supposed to be spent by local authorities on early years places in 2021/22 but was either redirected to other areas of council funding or returned to the Department for Education.

This includes £45.8m in councils underspending on early years funding.

More than a third of councils underspending used this money to offset deficits in designated schools grants. This amounts to £15m being redirected from early years to wider school budgets. Around £5m was specifically used to meet losses in supporting high needs pupils in schools.

The rest of the money was “clawed back” by the DfE, according to the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), which carried out the investigation by sending Freedom of Information Act requests to councils on early years spending.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included