The publication of the book comes as author, Helen Penn, reunites with those she campaigned with in the 1970s and 80s to push for a fairer childcare system in light of the expanded offer being rolled out in a matter of weeks. Penn was a founder member of the National Childcare Campaign and has worked as an academic for the last 30 years.
Within her book, ‘Who Needs Nurseries? We do!’, Penn, an academic, argues that increasing Government funding to deliver the extended early years offer alone is not the solution, nor is replying on private nurseries.
Instead, she suggests building on and expanding free local authority nursery provision that already exists, while setting limits on the amount of funding large nursery chains can receive and the number of sites they can operate. She says this would encourage not-for-profit childcare, supporting informal childcare workers, improving regulation and inspection of private nurseries and reinvigorating training for staff.
Drawing on evidence, the book argues that the results of privatisation of nurseries have been costly and ‘deeply unfair’, with the poorest and most disabled children most likely to miss out. It also suggests that standards of private provision, compared with state of community settings, are often low, and that Ofsted does a ‘poor regulatory job’.
The book is being launched online on 17 April when Penn’s recommendations will be discussed. Speaking at the event is Jenny Williams, one of the campaigners who has been campaigning since the 1960s, who will talk about the ‘pioneering nursery centres’ in North Kensington in the 70s, which were state-funded, community controlled settings that provided high-quality, free childcare. Members of the post-pandemic childcare coalition will also be at the event.
Helen Penn said, ‘Recent research suggests major issues with the roll-out of the subsidy increase, partly because big private companies are swallowing up what funds exist. The Government can only meet demand by lowering standards – by relying on apprentices rather than qualified staff, and by changing the staff-child ratios. That’s not good for children, or the people who care for them.’
Jenny Williams added, ‘It is a sad reflection of the childcare policies of both Conservative and Labour Governments since the 1990s that the enabling of the growth of private sector has seen an erosion in the standards of training and the quality of the premises for children in early years settings.
‘Our campaigns in the 1970s questioned why in the United Kingdom did we place such a low priority in investing in our next generation's care and education compared with other European counties and now our broken childcare system makes this comparison even more relevant.’