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The Early Years Alliance has issued a comment following the publication of research from the Liberal Democrats.

The research, which compares funding rates with the mean hourly fee per local authority shows that parents pay £19.50 a week, equivalent to almost £1,000 a-year to fill the childcare funding gap. 

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

“It is extremely concerning, but sadly not at all surprising, that families have had to pay almost £1,000 per year to access so-called ‘free’ entitlement places. 

“Our 2018 Freedom of Information investigation revealed that, for years, government has been underfunding the early years sector despite knowing that this would mean higher fees for families. 

“Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders do their best to provide affordable early years care and education but years of underfunding have made it increasingly challenging to do so sustainably. As such, many are left with no option but to pass on shortfalls in government funding to parents in the form of increased fees or additional charges just to keep their doors open. 

“What’s more, unless the upcoming early entitlement expansion is adequately funded, the ‘childcare funding gap’ is only going to widen, which is likely to result in further fee increases, putting even more financial pressure on families at a time when many are already struggling as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.  

“If the government is as serious about tackling the rising cost of early years places as it claims to be, it simply must ensure that both existing and upcoming early entitlement offers are properly funded. This is the only way to guarantee that families will be able to access affordable – and high-quality – early years places both now, and long into the future.”