�°������ϲʹ�������

 

 

The Green Party has promised to offer “free universal” childcare for all children in its latest manifesto.

 

The party has also pledged to delay the start of formal education until the age of seven. Children in England currently start school in the September following their fourth birthday.

 

The manifesto reads: “The Green Party believes that education is a right, and should therefore be available to people of all ages.”

 

However, the Alliance has raised concerns about the manifesto. Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said: “Given that the sector is currently struggling to cover the costs and address the logistics of delivering 30-hours to three and four-year-old children of working parents, we are sceptical about how the Greens would be able to work with the sector to achieve these ideas in practice.”

 

Neil added: “If politicians wish to win the support of the sector, they need to present us with pragmatic policies that will see neither providers, nor parents, left out of pocket.”