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Leading membership organisation the Early Years Alliance has issued a comment in reaction to the news that Rishi Sunak has been appointed as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and will become the next Prime Minister. 

Commenting on the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said:

“As Mr Sunak prepares for the many challenges awaiting him as Prime Minister, it’s absolutely vital that tackling the ongoing early years crisis in this country is made a top priority.

“Quality early education and childcare is fundamental to any functioning society, and particularly at a time of economic crisis: our vital sector not only supports children to get the best possible start in life, but also ensures that parents across the country are able to work and contribute to our national economy.

"However years of neglect and, more specifically, underfunding have left us in an untenable situation where costs are continuing to spiral for parents while talented education professionals, sick of being overworked and underpaid, are abandoning the sector in their droves.

“Rather wasting any more time on a fruitless ‘deregulation’ agenda that would have only exacerbated an already-dire situation, we need a clear, comprehensive long-term early years strategy from government that actually supports the delivery of affordable, sustainable, high-quality care and education.

“As such, we urge Mr Sunak to scrap government plans to relax ratios in early years settings, and instead commit to the substantial investment needed to ensure the sector can not just survive, but thrive in the years to come."