Nursery World - A question of who is subsidising whom

It seems that every week I read another example in Nursery World of how financial problems are undermining the drive for quality childcare and family services. Whether it is a lack of capital for new-build children's centres, providers withdrawing from Neighbourhood Nurseries, pay and conditions being downgraded, challenges in achieving sustainability, large charities having to sell their services on the cheap, or private providers having to make a loss on providing free three- and four-year-old entitlement, the root cause is the same - chronic under-funding from central Government.

Whether it is a lack of capital for new-build children's centres, providers withdrawing from Neighbourhood Nurseries, pay and conditions being downgraded, challenges in achieving sustainability, large charities having to sell their services on the cheap, or private providers having to make a loss on providing free three- and four-year-old entitlement, the root cause is the same - chronic under-funding from central Government.

Not long ago I felt optimistic that we had a Government that recognised the vital importance of a child's early years and was prepared to put funding in place to ensure the best outcomes for children and their families.

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