Call for government to review early years funding rates in London
by Jess Gibson
The London Assembly Economy Committee is calling on the government to review early entitlement funding rates in London in a report published today.
The call comes amid widespread concern that the sector as a whole will be unable to cope with the increase in demand when the early entitlement scheme is expanded to include two-year-olds in April.
However, the findings of the Committee鈥檚 investigation into rising early years costs in the capital highlight that parents in London, in particular, will face increased barriers to accessing affordable provision due to acute staffing shortages, a drop in the number of childminders and the higher overhead costs for settings in the capital compared to elsewhere in the UK.
In two evidence-gathering sessions, the Committee found that London has the highest early education costs in the country at an average of 25-33% more than Great Britain as a whole. The report also argues that it is harder for parents in the capital to access early education than in other areas of the country, especially when their child is disabled or has special educational needs.
The Committee consulted a number of organisations including the Early Years Alliance Pregnant Then Screwed, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in its research, which also highlighted that the availability of places is another key issue for parents 鈥 with London particularly likely to be affected by a surge in demand as well as rising costs.
Marina Ahmad AM, Chair of the Economy Committee,鈥痵aid: 鈥淲hile we welcome the Government鈥檚 plans to expand the free entitlements for children under the age of three, we are concerned that the childcare sector in London will struggle to cope with the expected rise in demand for places.
鈥淚f we do not take action to address this soon, even more families and even more children will be driven out of London.
鈥淲e urge that recommendations in our report be taken forward as soon as possible to ensure the economic success of our city and support the education and development of the next generation.鈥
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said:鈥 鈥淭he London Assembly鈥檚 Economy Committee is absolutely right to highlight the severe impact that years of underfunding is having on providers and families alike.鈥
鈥淎s the report makes clear, not only have settings been faced with years of underfunding 鈥 which in an increasing number of cases leaves many with no option but to pass costs on to parents 鈥 but also the high cost of living in London, which only exacerbates the pressures they are facing even further.鈥
鈥淲hat鈥檚 more, with the expansion of the funded entitlement offer just a matter of months away, longstanding staffing challenges are likely to make it more difficult for settings to increase capacity to match demand with 鈥 as our own research shows 鈥 some being left with no choice but to opt out of the new scheme completely.鈥
鈥淥f course, while it鈥檚 clear that the capital is on the brink of a childcare and early years crisis, we must not forget that providers across the remainder of the country are also grappling with the very same issues, resulting in more than 3,000 settings closing in the last year alone.鈥
鈥淎s such, while we agree that the funding rate in London must be increased to match the reality of delivering high-quality early years places, the same鈥痑ction must also be taken for the remainder鈥痮f the country if there is any chance of settings being able to sustainably鈥痙eliver both existing and upcoming early entitlement hours.鈥