Education committee chair calls for government action on early years funding
Labour MP and chair of the Education Select Committee Helen Hayes has called on the government to take action to ensure that early years settings aren鈥檛 forced to close as a result of the impact of high delivery costs and inadequate funding rates.
Speaking during a , Ms Hayes said that 鈥渕any providers have been flagging for a long time the fact that the hourly rate they have been paid does not match the costs of delivering funded hours鈥, arguing that the previous government鈥檚 funding model had created 鈥渄istortions in the costs of childcare, with parents of the youngest children paying very high rates to cross-subsidise the costs of providing underfunded funded hours for three and four-year-olds鈥.
Pointing to the financial impact of the rising costs of energy, food and insurance, alongside increased employer national insurance contributions and the increase in the national minimum wage, she said: 鈥淪adly, we have seen far too many early years settings close in recent years because they cannot make their business model work. It is important that the Government pay careful attention to the financial resilience of the sector and take steps to ensure that nurseries do not close due to high costs and inadequate rates of funding.鈥
Helen Hayes has been a Labour MP since 2015 and held the role of shadow early years minister from December 2021 to May 2024. She has been chair of the Education Select Committee since September 2024.