Nursery World - Alliance calls for a 'comprehensive long-term plan' for the sector to be made a priority by the next government

The Early Years Alliance is calling on the next government to provide an emergency financial rescue package for early years providers before carrying out a wholesale review and ‘overhaul’ of the current childcare system.

The EYA has put forward a number of recommendations for the next government

Within its 2024 manifesto, the Alliance puts forward a number of recommendations for the next government ahead of the general election, which is expected next year. They include:

On funded places, the Alliance says this should be universal once the sector has the ‘infrastructure to support an expansion’. It goes on to recommend that if funding is not adequate for the expansion of funded places, a means-tested approach, where costs are fully covered for the lowest-income families and subsidised on a sliding scale for those with higher earnings.

The Alliance says it would also support the removal of the early years element of the Tax-Free Childcare system, demand for which continues to fall short of Government projections, and which it argues to be ‘entirely regressive as those families who can afford to save the most money in their Government account are given the greatest levels of support.’

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