The warning from the Alliance is in reaction to concerns from their members that fewer practitioners will have the opportunity to contribute to the consultation, which runs from June to September, when schools and some settings are closed for the summer and staff are preparing for the start of the new term.
They claim this could undermine the value of the Government's public consultation and put it at risk of becoming a cost-cutting exercise.
Children under five, who attend nursery for at least two hours a day, receive 189ml of milk free under the scheme. The Government reimburses childcare providers for the full cost of the milk. But it is reviewing the free milk scheme for nursery children because of escalating costs.
Over recent years the prices claimed for milk supplied under the Nursery Milk Scheme have gone up considerably, with some claims reaching 92p a pint.
The Department of Health has found that some specialist providers of milk who act as 'middle-men' for nurseries have been claiming back on their behalf double the amount of money they should be.
The consultation proposes three cost-cutting options including capping the price that can be claimed for milk, issuing e-voucher cards credited with a monthly payment, or directly supplying and delivering milk under a central contract.
John Thornes, chairman of the School and Nursery Milk Alliance, said, 'Our members within the early years and education sectors have expressed concern that, with most of the consultation period taking place over the summer holidays and the busy first weeks of the September term, there is likely to be a knock-on effect on the number of settings, schools and their staff who submit responses to the Government.
'For a consultation such as this, it is vital that the voices of the early years and school sectors are heard as they are the end users who will be affected by the changes to the administration of the Nursery Milk Scheme. It will be impossible to judge what the effect of any changes will have on children, their nutrition and the demands on setting staff without this input. We would welcome an extension of the consultation by six weeks to allow nursery staff adequate opportunity to contribute during term time.'
The Pre-School Learning Alliance, a member of the School and Nursery Milk Alliance, is backing an extension.
Chief executive Neil Leitch said, 'We view this public consultation as a real opportunity to improve the overall transparency, quality and accessibility of this important initiative. As many settings are closed or run limited childcare services over this time, we would support any extension to the review deadline to enable as many settings as possible sufficient time to comment.'
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the NDNA, said, 'NDNA will be gathering views and preparing a response on behalf of our members. However, we are concerned that the timing of the consultation may limit the feedback gathered from members and would recommend that the time-frame for the consultation is extended to allow time for more nurseries to respond.'
Little Me private day nursery in Glasgow receives free milk through the Cool Milk scheme.
The nursery's director, Robert Clarke, said, 'I agree with the Alliance's concerns over the timing of the review. The people that matter won't get to express their feelings unless there is a dramatic change of this review period. A relatively short extension period of six weeks would not be a hardship considering the final long-term impact this could have.'
- To take part in the consultation visit http://www.consultations.dh.gov.uk/nurserymilk/nextsteps The closing date is 11 September.
