麻花影视responds to new school-based nursery announcement

Please find below a comment from the Early Years 麻花影视on the news that the government鈥檚 school-based nurseries rollout is 鈥渙n track to deliver over 4,000 places this September鈥.

Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said:

鈥淲hile we fully recognise that there is an urgent need to boost the number of early years places, we are both disappointed and frustrated that government policy continues to focus almost exclusively on school-based nurseries, especially given this provision accounts for a relatively small proportion of places.

鈥淲ith providers from across the sector collectively delivering nearly 1.3 million places to under-fives, it鈥檚 clear that the addition of 4,000 places 鈥 while welcome 鈥 is unlikely to have a significant impact on accessibility overall. What鈥檚 more, the extent to which school-based settings will be willing and able to meet the needs of families requiring care and education outside of normal school hours, or during the holidays, remains unclear.

鈥淲ith private and voluntary providers delivering the vast majority of early years places 鈥 particularly those taken up by younger children 鈥 it鈥檚 clear that the government simply cannot continue to overlook and undervalue this vital part of the sector.鈥