News

Children's minister accused of 'insulting' childminders over closures

The children and families minister Vicky Ford has been accused of ‘dismissing the closure of thousands of childminders’.
Vicky Ford, children and families minister
Vicky Ford, children and families minister

Yesterday in the House of Commons, shadow children and early years minister Tulip Siddiq confronted Ms Ford on the closure of nearly 3,000 nurseries, childminders and other early years providers since the start of the year, which she said was due to a lack of targeted funding.

'Earlier this year, in June, I stood at this Dispatch Box and confronted the Minister about the number of nurseries and childcare providers that were closing because of the Government’s inability to fund the early years sector properly. The Minister accused me of scaremongering,' she said. 'Since June, there has been a further loss of 500 childcare providers in the sector, which brings the net loss for this year alone to nearly 3,000. Will the Minister make up for dismissing the concerns of parents, children and carers by providing targeted funding for the early years sector from this Government?'

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here