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 The Early Years Alliance has issued a comment in response to  that the government is planning to increase the level of funding that early years providers receive in Wednesday's Budget, and to push ahead with plans to relax ratios.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: 

"The early years sector has long been severely underfunded, resulting in soaring costs for parents, a worsening retention and recruitment crisis and thousands of providers closing their doors each year.  While we therefore welcome reports that the Chancellor plans to increase sector funding in Wednesday's Budget, the devil, as always, is in the detail. 

"It is vital that any additional investment is enough not only to cover the cost of delivering care and early education today, but that a mechanism is created to ensure that early years funding remains adequate in the future as providers costs rise.

"That said, all the funding in the world cannot save the sector if we do not have enough early years professionals to deliver places. If the reports that the government is also to proceed with plans to relax ratios is true, we are likely to see more and more early educators leaving the sector in their droves, resulting in a sharp drop in available places and, in the worst cases, further setting closures, with little to no impact on costs for parents. 

"Such a move would demonstrate a complete disregard for our vital sector and the quality care and education that our workforce strives to provide to children and their families, and we urge any ministers thinking of pushing ahead with such a disastrous policy to think again."