Early years funding rates uplift ‘not enough’ to prevent closures, providers warn

A Department for Education uplift of early years funding rates worth £400m will “fall short” of what providers need to deliver the government’s planned expansion of the funded childcare offer, sector leaders have said. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan today (29 November) said that she is “pushing ahead with increased funding rates across the country” to roll out the expansion of funded childcare to children as young as nine months old by 2025. However, the National Day Nurseries (NDNA) highlighted that the uplift amounts to less than five per cent of current funding while Hunt announced a National Living Wage increase of at least 10 per cent in last week’s autumn statement. Read more.