Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early
Years Alliance, said:
“While we fully agree that families should be able to access
early entitlement hours without incurring additional costs, in
reality, years of underfunding have made it impossible for the
vast majority of settings to keep their doors open without
relying on some form of additional fees or charges.
“As such, while it is absolutely right that providers should be
transparent with parents on any optional additional fees, today's
guidance does absolutely nothing to address – or even acknowledge
– the fundamental financial challenges facing the
sector.
“Given that from September, government will control the price of
around 80% of early years provision, it has never been more
important for that funding to genuinely reflect the true cost of
delivering places. And yet we know in many areas, this year's
rate increases won't come close to mitigating the impact April's
National Insurance and wage rises, meaning that costs for both
providers and families are likely to spiral.
“So, while today's guidance may rightly make charges clearer for
parents, it does not take away from the fact that unless the
government takes urgent action to tackle sector underfunding,
many providers will still have no choice but to increase the
price of any non-funded hours parents take up or optional extras
they purchase – or risk facing permanent closure.
“If the government is as serious about ensuring that all families
can access affordable care and education as it says it is, then
it simply must tackle the root causes of rising early years
costs. As we know from the past decade and beyond, ignoring the
problem of underfunding won't make it go away.”
