In the build up to the Spring Budget, early years education and care was elevated to the top of the news agenda in a way we’ve not seen for over a decade.
This has to be welcomed. For many campaigners and parents, some of the announcements are the first significant step in a journey to make childcare more affordable and open up the financial feasibility of re-joining the workforce.
It was good to hear that families on universal credit will now receive funding in advance rather than arrears. This is welcomed as councils have suggested that families are not currently claiming their full entitlement.
The other big policy shift was the staggered extension of 30 hours free funding to children under the age of three. While again this will not immediately impact parents, it will be welcomed as a significant step towards enabling people into work once maternity or paternity leave ends.
But perhaps surprisingly for a budget, there was little detail on what providers will receive. It’s already been pointed out in previous Nursery World articles that the proposed extra £200 million funding is a tenth of the £2 billion shortfall highlighted by the Department for Education in 2021.
This means existing challenges around wages, increased costs and inflation will not be resolved by this extra funding. So, while parents should rightly celebrate this shift towards prioritising childcare, children must not pay a financial penalty. Inclusive, accessible, quality interactions must remain the priority as well as the impact measure.
If we put it in context, this is the first real investment since 2005. In that time, childcare settings have suffered amidst rising costs, insufficient funding, and an inadequate ‘free’ childcare entitlement.
This underfunding has been shouldered by the sector for almost 20 years. Early years is in a financially critical situation with stubborn recruitment and retention issues. Actions around staffing and other cost saving incentives must be embedded in a workforce strategy focused on sustainability, equity, and career appeal.
Then we move onto the announcement around ratios. Despite a very vocal rejection of the move from the sector, the Government announced it will be changing minimum staff to child ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two year olds.
This is purportedly to give childcare providers in England more flexibility and the Chancellor confirmed the change would come into effect from September 2023 but remain optional. Although the reduction in ratios means that fewer staff would be required overall (which may seem helpful when you consider the current staffing crisis), in my view, this decrease in ratios is a potential risk to children’s safety.
It will also significantly reduce the number of quality interactions staff can have with babies and young children.
Statutory requirements surrounding ratios and room space for young children are in place for a reason. Why would we want to increase accessibility at the cost of children's care, holistic health, development, and wellbeing?
The wellbeing of staff must be prioritised, and such changes are simply not sustainable. Caring for large groups of young children would challenge the most skilled educator and I fear we could end up with stressful situations impacting both children and staff. Parents will, and should expect, so much more, and there’s little hope of financial gain for families for some time to come.
Keeping children free from harm will be prioritised over experiences and quality interactions with their key person. Research conducted in this area is in total conflict to this approach. Babies and young children must be nurtured in an enabling environment, not merely kept safe. This particular change certainly feels like a step backwards.
The final announcement from the Spring Budget focused on addressing the decline in childminders by introducing incentive payments.
When it comes to supporting the onboarding of childminders, I certainly believe that straightforward processes are always welcomed. However, quality provision is the most important factor and that simply must not be put at risk. Parents should be able to assume trust in the quality of childcare and for children it's their absolute right.
Despite this, I do think having childcare featured prominently in a key political showpiece has to be viewed as positive. Whether it’s enough remains to be seen. Short bursts of redirected funding do little for the long-term, and the workforce crisis stretches way beyond a debate over salary.
Once again, the responsibility falls upon the sector to build on the increased focus and interest childcare has received. We need to continue to champion the changes needed to make early years the high quality, sustainable and attractive profession it needs to be.
