Please can the Government let us in on the secret of what it is exactly that it wants for under-fives in this country? Do ministers want good-quality daycare and wraparound facilities for children, or not? Are early years workers providing a valuable service for very young children, like we are always told, or not? It seems that when ministers are presented with settings that offer good provision, their response is to close them down. Do they not realise that when they cut these facilities and put children elsewhere, they just add to the problem of parents who cannot afford to travel or pay for places or meals?
Please can the Government let us in on the secret of what it is exactly that it wants for under-fives in this country? Do ministers want good-quality daycare and wraparound facilities for children, or not? Are early years workers providing a valuable service for very young children, like we are always told, or not?
It seems that when ministers are presented with settings that offer good provision, their response is to close them down. Do they not realise that when they cut these facilities and put children elsewhere, they just add to the problem of parents who cannot afford to travel or pay for places or meals?
This just proves to me that money comes before children, say if the premises are on a prime development spot. Maybe if a day nursery can move the goalposts and look into changing the title that it operates under, for example a pre-school, it might get somewhere.
Sandra Pound Camelford, Cornwall
