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The Early Years Alliance has responded to today's call by the Sutton Trust's call for greater investment into the early years as part of the government's education recovery plan.

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

"We fully support the Sutton Trust's call on government to put the early years at the heart of education recovery plans.

"We know that the first five years of a child's life are absolutely critical for their learning and development, and yet there are now many young children across the country who have spent a huge proportion of their short lives of their lives indoors, with little to no social interaction. As such, it is no surprise that so many parents are so concerned about how the unprecedented restrictions of the pandemic might impact their children in the long term.

"Early years professionals have worked incredibly hard to support families returning to their settings but they themselves need far greater support from government to ensure that they are able to continue delivering affordable, sustainable and high-quality care and education at a time when such services are more critical than ever.

"With pre-reception early years funding currently accounting for just 0.6% of the education recovery programme, it's clear that ministers urgently need to rethink their priorities. If the government is genuinely committed to investing in our children's futures, then there is no better place to start than the early years."