Mrs McKenzie had organised a panel which included shadow children and families’ minister Sharon Hodgson, Pre-School Learning Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch and former NCMA executive Stuart Turner. The aim of the Saturday morning meeting was to provide feedback to Ms Hodgson and help inform future Labour Party policy on childcare.
Issues on the agenda included affordability of childcare, ratios, the free entitlement and cutting red tape. Mrs McKenzie said, 'We have met with Elizabeth Truss and given her useful ideas on how to reduce costs to providers and reduce unnecessary red tape. We have warned her that higher ratios and agencies will not lower costs but will certainly lower quality of care. However, it looks like she is not listening to us, and that she will fragment our childcare system as well as creating two tiers of care. Quality will be at great risk.'
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