Budget 2024: Alliance responds to news that spending on early years priorities will be protected by government

Please find a comment below from the Early Years Alliance following confirmation from the government that spending on early years priorities will be protected at the upcoming Budget.

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

"Given recent reports of widespread departmental cuts, confirmation that spending on early years priorities will be protected at the upcoming Budget is undoubtedly welcome news.

"Of course, that said, with the ongoing early years staffing crisis – driven in no small part by low pay – and the fact that funding rates for the three- and four-year-old entitlement offers continue to fall far below the cost of delivering places, we know that simply maintaining the status quo will not be sufficient in the long term.

"Looking beyond the Budget, therefore, it's critical that the government works closely with the sector to develop a clear, long-term strategy for the early years – one that ensures that every child is given the best possible start in life – and, crucially, puts in place the significant investment needed to make this ambition a reality."