Alliance reacts to findings of Education Committee's early years inquiry
Please find below a comment from the Early Years Alliance on the publication of the Education Committee's Support for Childcare and the Early Years report folloiwng it's inquiry into early years and childcare earlier this year.
Commenting on Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said:
"As the Education Committee states the education and care a child receives during their first five years is absolutely crucial, yet the infrastructure, funding and support simply isn鈥檛 there to both enable providers to easily deliver this, and families to benefit from it.
"We, therefore, welcome the inquiry鈥檚 focus on the array of critical challenges facing the sector. Not only have years of severe underfunding plagued the sector but the worst staffing crisis in decades has created a perfect storm which must be addressed if the sector has any chance of survival in the coming years.
"If that wasn鈥檛 bad enough, it鈥檚 likely that the upcoming sector expansion will be dangerously underfunded and will place unrealistic expectations on providers already on the brink. But, if the government had properly listened to our countless calls for sector support and funding, they would have known this.
"It鈥檚 clear that remedying the challenges the sector is facing cannot be achieved overnight. Yet, for the Committee鈥檚 findings to truly have a lasting impact we hope against hope that it finally wakes the government up to the reality of the situation facing families and providers and prompts urgent and effective action. Frankly too much is at stake to do any less.鈥