The Government's ten-year childcare strategy contains grandiose pledges to work with private providers to ensure its targets are met for childcare places and free nursery education. But these fine-sounding promises have fuelled rather than allayed concerns among private nursery providers.
Spiralling wage costs, punitive rises in business rates and the prospect of Government-inspired initiatives devouring a large chunk of the childcare market - and staff that the private sector has trained - are causing increasing concern.
When the strategy emerged in December, Northumberland nursery owner Debbie Wylie says she was initially 'pleased that they had put in place a structure with clear aims'. She compared the Government's proposals favourably with the neglect of childcare by previous administrations.
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