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Early years funding is ‘treading water’, finds report

According to new research on education spending, high levels of inflation, a rising minimum wage and new taxes, will mean the 17p uplift in early years funding will ‘almost certainly’ not be enough to compensate for rising costs.
The cross-party committee of Lords want the Government to revert back to 2010 levels of spending on early years services PHOTO Adobe Stock
The cross-party committee of Lords want the Government to revert back to 2010 levels of spending on early years services PHOTO Adobe Stock

Carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the report warns overall that cuts to education spending over the last decade will put a ‘major brake’ on the Government’s ambition to level up poorer areas of the country.

Early years funding

Looking at early years funding specifically, it says that ‘Before the pandemic, spending per hour on the early years entitlement tended to follow a ratchet pattern: meaningful boosts in 2012 and 2017 were followed by years of cash-terms freezes, eroding spending power in real terms.’

It goes on to state that the extra £160 million next year from the 2021 spending review will not be enough to cover rising costs.

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