Yesterday (Wednesday 11 October) the shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, announced at Labour’s party conference plans to carry out a review into the early years, covering the workforce, ways to widen ‘childcare eligibility’ and increase school-based provision.
Responding to the news, June O’Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation who has been awarded an OBE in the Honorary awards to foreign nationals (Irish), said, ‘As children from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle to find access to quality nursery education – thereby increasing the attainment gap even further – we welcome Labour’s new ambitious review to fix what is currently a broken childcare system.’
Joeli Brearley, the founder of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, said they were ‘elated’ by the proposal as they have been campaigning for a review for years to understand why the childcare system is ‘such a mess.’
However, she added that ‘parents need more certainty now about whether childcare will be more affordable under a Labour Government so they can plan for the future.’
The Education Policy Institute said they were ‘particularly pleased’ to see that Labour is considering removing restrictions on local authorities opening nursery provision.
Chief executive Natalie Perera explained, ‘Maintained local authority nurseries tend to be situated in diverse areas with high levels of deprivation and led by qualified teachers. If sufficiently resourced this could begin to pave the way for an expansion of early years settings focused on serving disadvantaged children.’
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said it looked forward to working with Sir David Bell on the review, however any plans for extending the funded entitlement further would need to be fully costed with a workforce strategy in place.
Also, to avoid ‘duplicating’ any existing high-quality provision that would undermine the sustainability of providers.
The Early Years Alliance called the early years review a ‘positive step’, but said for it to have a ‘genuine, long-lasting impact, those on the ‘frontline’ would need to play a key-role in driving its direction and areas of focus.’