Stephen has urged Ministers in the Department for Education to commit to increased long-term funding for maintained nurseries, which have been hard hit by Covid-19.
In a Westminster Hall debate last week, MPs raised the issue of funding for maintained nurseries. Prior to the pandemic, early years providers contended that Government funding was not enough to support rising costs of provision and staffing. Now, according to the Early Yeas Alliance, one in six early years providers think they could close before Christmas without additional funding. In the Government’s Spending Review, £44 million was announced for early years education in 2021-22. However, Stephen called for a longer-term funding settlement to be laid out.
During his speech, Stephen praised the valuable contributions of maintained nurseries to the wider community. He paid tribute to Sheringham Nursery in Manor Park which has helped create better outcomes for disadvantaged children in the borough. It supports almost a quarter of its pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Stephen also highlighted the work Sheringham did in supporting parents to educate their children outside of nursery, and its work with one hundred private nurseries and childminders to improve education quality and inclusion.
Speaking afterwards, Stephen said: ”Maintained Nursery Schools - like Sheringham - have outstanding track records for improving the life chances of some of the most disadvantaged children in the borough. Despite this, every year we return to the same issue - the lack of funding.
“Ministers must finally bring an end to this uncertainty and deliver a secure, long-term settlement for Maintained Nursery Schools.”