Nursery World - Children's services leaders call for extra funding for early years

Increased spending in the early years is needed to address inequalities and improve children’s lives as part of a long-term approach to support the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, a report from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has recommended today.

Without extra funding for early years the attainment gap between children could widen and 'significantly compromise' children's development, the report warns

The work of early years professionals during the pandemic is praised in Building a country that works for all children post-Covid-19 but the report states that the past few months has ‘underlined the vulnerability and indeed viability of a fragmented early years sector giving rise to concerns about placement sufficiency going forwards’.

The discussion paper considers the impacts of the pandemic on children and their families and what is needed to restore and reset the support services they rely on. Along with a shortfall of childcare places, it highlights that the Prime Minister’s £1 billion catch-up plan to address the impacts of lost learning announced in June is not earmarked for use in early years settings. This could further wider the attainment gap and significantly compromise children’s development.

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