With more than 30 members, the new Early Education and Childcare Coalition provides a 360-degree view of our sector – taking in every aspect of its very varied landscape (news, 22 August).
Spanning children’s charities, parent campaign groups, provider membership bodies, anti-poverty campaigners, NGOs and business lobbying groups, its members bring a variety of perspectives to a new campaign which could potentially be very powerful. There are some big ambitions for levelling up; the Coalition’s host is feminist think-tank the Women’s Budget Group, while funding is from the Kiawah Trust, a charitable foundation that supports initiatives to tackle educational and gender inequality.
According to its website, the immediate priority is for a ‘rescue and reform approach: short-term measures that will stabilise the sector now, alongside a national programme of reform and investment’.
This means it will have to move quickly in the months ahead, as the pre-election lead-up gives it a window it has identified as a ‘rare opportunity’.
It certainly looks promising if so many stakeholders can find one voice. And we are talking about organisations which are practised campaigners in their own right, with a wealth of experience and research at their fingertips.
The challenge will be to co-ordinate resources effectively and not be held back by too may voices as part of its decision-making process. How the campaign will evolve in the months ahead will be exciting to see, and I am confident it will have a big influence on the conversations around sector solutions as we move towards a new government.
It is also heartening to see this level of collaboration. In recent years the sector has been beset by factions and divisions within its ranks – often putting it in a defensive position that has not always proved the best approach.