Alliance welcomes IPPR call for greater early years investment

19th June 2014

Commenting on the IPPR Condition of Britain report, published today, which calls for greater investment in the early years and childcare sector, Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch said:

“We welcome the fact that the report recognises that any major reforms to the childcare market in England will require significant investment.

“The first five years of a child’s life are crucial for long-term development and so it is vital that the sector is adequately supported in delivering high-quality provision. However, as the majority of early years providers do not receive enough funding to cover the costs of delivering the current free entitlement offers, we believe that it’s vital that current funding inadequacies are fully addressed before we look at extending the officer.

“We also support the call for increased government investment into the improvement of both qualifications and levels of pay in early years. The sector fully supports ambitions to build a highly-qualified workforce — assuming there is also a recognition that experience and a nurturing approach are equally valuable — but to achieve this, the government must have a clear plan of action on how practitioners will be supported in gaining these qualifications, and how sector pay levels are to be improved in order to attract and retain these qualified staff.”

For further information, please .

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes for editors

  1. The Alliance Early Years Agenda survey of 1270 childcare professionals found that 73% of providers offering free entitlement places for three- and four-year-olds feel that they do not receive sufficient funding (compared to 19% who do), while 54% of those offering two-year-old places do not feel they receive sufficient funding (compared to 32% who do). A full summary and analysis of the survey can be found in the Alliance’s Early Years Agenda: interim report
  2. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  3. Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
  4. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website:

More press releases