childcare, budget, government, 6.4 billion, disadvantaged, children
Next Government must prioritise disadvantaged children in childcare budget
24 February 2015
The next Government should urgently review the way the budget for early education and childcare - forecast at £6.4 billion - is allocated, to ensure best value for money. The House of Lords Committee on Affordable Childcare believes that the budget should be re-prioritised to help disadvantaged children, as detailed in its report, published today.
- Report: Affordable Childcare (PDF)
- Report: Affordable Childcare (HTML)
- Evidence: Affordable Childcare
- Full Press Notice: Affordable Childcare
The Committee believes that there are three main actions the new Government must take in order to get the best value for its investment:
- re-prioritise spending in early education and childcare to focus on disadvantaged children – better value for money will be achieved by targeting those most likely to benefit;
- ensure that disadvantaged two year-olds access their free early education in settings rated good or outstanding by Ofsted no later than 2020; and
- address the under-funding of free early education places in the Public, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector.
The full press notice includes comments from the Chairman, Lord Sutherland of Houndwood.