Alliance launches SEND funding survey

Leading early years membership organisation the Early Years Alliance has today (Monday 27 January) launched a new survey on the impact of early years funding on SEND provision.

The online survey seeks to gain practitioner views on whether current levels of both general early years funding and additional funding aimed specifically at supporting provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are sufficient, and to identity particular challenges that providers are currently facing in this area.

The survey can be accessed at , and will close at midnight on Friday 14 February. 

All responses are anonymous, unless respondents are happy to provide contact details for future follow-up work. 

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

鈥淲e know that early years providers deliver excellent care to young children with special educational needs and disabilities day-in and day-out, but the growing funding crisis has meant that doing so in a sustainable way is becoming near-impossible.

鈥淓very child, without exception, deserves to have the best possible start in life 鈥 but early years providers must receive the financial support they need to ensure that this is the case. 

鈥淭his is an area that has been overlooked for far too long, and so we hope that our survey will help shine a light on the key challenges facing practitioners, and what can be done to ensure that children with SEND and their families are able to access the care and support that they need.

鈥淲ith the upcoming Budget and Spending Review, now is a key opportunity to make a strong argument to the government that more investment into both the early years, and SEND provision in particular, is needed. As such, we hope that as many practitioners as possible will respond to the survey and make their voices heard.鈥 

Editor notes 

  • The Early Years 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 members 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 programmes and campaign to influence early years policy and practice.
  • The Alliance website is