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Commenting on proposed government changes to the eligibility criteria for the two-year-old funded childcare scheme under Universal Credit, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:

“We have always argued that all children, and especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, should have access to quality early year provision, and so a policy change that would result in more two-year-olds being eligible for the funded entitlement - even a relatively small increase of 8000 - is a positive move in principle.

"That said, if the government is going to offer additional two-year-old places, it needs to make sure that those places will actually be available. With the introduction of the 30-hours scheme, there is a real danger that childcare providers struggling to balance the books will opt to reduce the number of two-year-old funded places in order to deliver the extended three- and four-year-old offer. Indeed, a recent Alliance survey found that more than four in 10 providers who planned to deliver the 30 hours were likely to have to reduce the number of places offered to children of other ages as a result of the policy.

"As such, and especially with this change set to be introduced in the busy summer term, it is vital that the government funds both schemes adequately to ensure that early years providers have sufficient capacity, staff and resources to deliver places to the growing number of children who need them."

ENDS

 

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE 

• The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest and most representative early years membership organisation in England. A registered educational charity, it also provides high-quality affordable childcare and education to support children and families in areas of deprivation throughout the country. 

• The Alliance represents 14,000 member settings and supports them to deliver care and learning to more than 800,000 families every year. We deliver family learning projects, offer information and advice, produce specialist publications, run acclaimed training and accreditation schemes and campaign to influence early years policy and practice. 

• The Alliance website is    

• The Alliance is running the Fair Future Funding campaign, which calls on the government to ensure that early years funding meets the rising cost of providing 'free entitlement' places. The campaign has 5000 supporters to date.