Nursery World - Interview – Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Party leader

Nursery World spoke to the leader of the Liberal Democrat party and MP for Kingston and Surbiton, Sir Ed Davey, during a visit to SNAP, a charity in Brentwood and Chelmsford (Essex), which supports children with SEND and their families

The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, with seven-year-old Isabelle on a visit to Snap in Brentwood, PHOTO: KM

Ahead of the visit, Sir Ed called for the introduction of a national body for SEND to end the postcode lottery of provision, as well as more funding for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. According to the Liberal Democrats, Essex is within the ten worst-performing regions for issuing plans.

Do the Lib Dems still plan to offer 30 hours to children from the age of nine months, and 35 hours of care for deprived children? How would you achieve this?

Yes. We’ve been very disappointed that the Government hasn’t prepared the ground.

We’ve had nurseries going out of business. We’ve had childminders giving up. It’s not being supported. There’s no point promising parents the hours when you haven’t got the people there who are able to provide that childcare. And we need to have trained nursery staff – it’s a profession. I think people are sick and tired of empty promises when the obvious isn’t done to make sure they can be backed.

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