Rejecting free childcare expansion should not delay 'urgent reform', sector leaders warn

A proposal by the Department for Education, first reported in The Guardian, would allow the state to extend the 30-hours-a-week funded childcare entitlement to children aged nine months to three years, but a report in the i newspaper suggests that the Chancellor is set to reject the plans.

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Responding to initial reports on the plans, early years leaders warned that the sector would be at risk of “collapse” if the plans went ahead, with chief executive of the Early Years Alliance Neil Leitch saying that existing free childcare schemes were “unaffordable” due to being “grossly underfunded”.

Following reports that the plans will be rejected by Hunt in the upcoming Spring Budget, Leitch urged the Chancellor to push for “urgent reform”.

He said: “We all know that extending the early entitlement offer to one- and two-year-olds without additional investment or support would have placed unsustainable pressure on a sector that, thanks to years of underfunding, is already teetering on the brink. 

“But that doesn’t mean that urgent reform isn’t needed. England’s early years sector is facing its most difficult time in decades with settings closing in swathes, and experienced educators leaving in their droves. 

“As such, if the government has indeed scrapped this proposal, it must now take the opportunity to listen to what the sector needs, rather than continuing to put forward ridiculous and ill-thought-out policies that will only serve to inflict even more harm on an already fragile sector.”

Jonathan Broadbery, director of policy and communications at the National Day Nurseries Association, added: "Rejecting plans for large scale expansion should not stop the Chancellor acting to fix the current challenges in the sector.

“In the UK, the level of investment in our youngest children’s education and care is among the lowest in developed countries. Whilst expanding the offer to parents of younger children would help grow our economy, investing in high-quality early education and care is vital for children’s development in those crucial first five years. This cannot be done on the cheap.

“Chronic underfunding means providers cannot cover their costs and constrains efforts to drive up quality. With the right investment childcare providers can deliver the high-quality services that support our children to flourish and grow. However, an unfunded expansion of the current system would do even more damage to working families and fail the children at the heart of this policy.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We recognise that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures and we are currently looking into options to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare.”