Responding to an Education Policy Institute report which found that half of parents said the Government hasn’t given enough childcare post-lockdown, Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Good quality early education can make an enormous difference to children’s lives, with around 40 per cent of the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers emerging by age 5.
“Councils have long raised the issue that funding for early entitlements is not enough, impacting on the quality of provision and the availability of good support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
“Maintained nursery schools support many of the most disadvantaged children and achieve outstanding results. However, the additional funding they receive to deliver this level of education is only guaranteed until the end of this academic year.
“The Government needs to use the forthcoming Spending Review to properly resource all early years settings to ensure that we can make a significant difference to the attainment gap.”
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