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Nursery World will be reporting throughout the day, with the latest news and reaction.
Writing on X/Twitter, early years lecturer Aaron Bradbury and Ruth Swailes, school improvement adviser, expressed their excitement at the news that the Conservatives will no longer be in government.
Labour's proposed early years and childcare policies include:
- Creating more than 3,000 'nurseries' in empty school classrooms.
- Free breakfast clubs in schools for all children.
- Continuing with the full roll out of the expanded offer.
Read more about how the party manifesto pledges stack up here
Following the General Election outcome, early years organisations, campaigners and teaching unions have urged immediate action from the new Labour government.
'Childminding has been let down by policy loopholes'.
Brett Wigdortz, spokesperson for the Organisation for Childminder Agencies (OFCMA), founder of TeachFirst and chief executive of tiney, argued that ‘childminding has been let down by policy loopholes’, but ‘decisive action from Labour could close these overnight, including removing the tax burden for childminders who register with an agency or make it easier to obtain landlord permission for those in rented accommodation.’
He added, ‘Labour need childminders – and childminders need the recognition and regulatory support they’ve long been denied.’
Similarly, Tina Maltman at Childminding UK said they hope the new Labour government will ‘listen to the views and concerns of their childminding members when putting childcare policy in place.’
'Clear and decisive action is needed.'
The Early Years Alliance focused its concerns on delivery of the next phase of the extended offer in September.
Chief executive Neil Leitch said with just two months until the next phase of the expanded entitlement, ‘clear and decisive action’ is ‘urgently needed’ to address the ‘multitude of challenges’ facing the sector.
Campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed called on the new government to increase the number of childcare places, overhaul the benefit system and reform parental leave.
The National Education Union has called on the new government to 'inject significantly more funding into education than it has promised'.
Its general secretary Daniel Kebede said that after 14 years of ‘damage’ under the Conservatives, Labour will need to ‘inject significantly more funding into education than it promised if it is to match the level of ambition needed to achieve a truly outstanding system.’
He went on to say ‘breaking down barriers to opportunity must start with the understanding that poverty is still the biggest obstacle to learning and achievement.’
While the union welcomes Labour’s manifesto pledge to introduce free breakfast clubs in schools, it said the party should go further and introduce universal free school meals across primary schools, as well as scrap the two-child benefit cap.
- For more information on Labour’s pledges click here
The Early Education and Childcare Coalition said on X/Twitter it looked forward to working with the new government.
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said that ‘underfunding’ and the ‘workforce’ must be a priority for the new government.
Chief executive Purnima Tanuku explained, ‘The sector is eager to see more detail and providers want to be able to do the best for all our children, so we need to be engaged in any discussions about how their plans can be delivered.
‘We wait to hear the announcement on new ministerial appointments and we will work closely with ministers and senior civil servants to ensure early education and childcare is a priority and we can focus on solutions that will make a difference.’
'Labour’s pledge to "support staff working in Childcare & Education so they are recognised for the important work…" is vital.’
Courteney Donaldson, managing director of childcare & education at Christie & Co, said, ‘Governments over the past 20 to 25 years have failed to acknowledge the importance of early childhood education – how it benefits children, working parents, and those in education or training, nor the forward-looking benefits and economic prospects for our country as a whole. So, Labour’s pledge to "support staff working in Childcare & Education so they are recognised for the important work…" is vital.’
Speech and Language UK urged the new government to make children's communication skills a 'top priority'.
Addressing Labour's win, chief executive Jane Harris, said, 'Congratulations on your victory. As you look ahead to the next five years, you need to make speech, language and communication skills a top priority. 1.9 million children in the UK are currently struggling with talking and understanding words, and they urgently need your help.
'You are the first party to talk about the importance of early communication skills in your election manifesto and we are delighted to see your pledge to fund a language intervention in every school. We look forward to working closely with you to implement this policy.'
Early Education highlighted its letter to the new Prime Minister, setting out what it believes are the key priorities.
Read more about the letter here
