Morgan reveals council powers to tackle extremism in childcare

Nicky Morgan wants to introduce new regulations allowing councils to refuse to fund providers that they believe promote extremist views.

Under the plans, early years providers will be expected to teach “fundamental British values” in an age-appropriate way, such as challenging negative attitudes and stereotypes, and learning right from wrong.

To ensure this happens, Ofsted will be required to inspect settings against values-based criteria.

Morgan said the plans would bring providers in line with schools, which are to be refused funding if they teach creationism as a scientific fact.

The measure was put forward after the Department for Education received 450 responses from those concerned that funding is be paid to providers who they believe promote extremist views during its childminder agencies and changes to local authority role consultation, which ran between March and May of this year.

Currently, local authorities fund "good" and "outstanding" settings to deliver 15 hours of free childcare to disadvantaged two-, three- and four-year-olds and can only withhold funding if a provider is downgraded by Ofsted.

Making the announcement, Morgan said: “I am clear that public money should not be used to support any school or early years provider that does not support this aim because it seeks to promote ideas and teachings that run counter to fundamental British values.

“There can be no place for extremist views anywhere in the education system.

“The changes we are making today will ensure that all early years providers and schools are aligned with the need to protect children from views that are considered extreme.”

But Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said it was "disappointing" that the "notion of extremism" was the subject of Morgan's first major announcement. 

He added: "Early years and school staff already teach children right from wrong. They are trained professionals who use a valuable play-based curriculum to promote positive interaction. Asking Ofsted to inspect how well nurseries are teaching 'fundamental British values' does not appear to offer anything new for children and will concern all those who seek to promote community engagement.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said he supports the spirit of the announcement but is yet to be convinced about the impact of British values on young children.

He said: "We believe that anything which makes a child's world smaller would be hugely detrimental to their long term development.

"The broader a child's experiences, the more confident and effective they are likely to be at contributing to Britain's diverse society.

"The government has defined key British values as individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs.

"We believe that banning or discouraging particular viewpoints would not be a helpful way of facilitating the development of these values."

A consultation on the proposed regulations is due to launch later in the year, with laws set to come into effect from early 2015.