APPG eyes launch
Monday, June 26, 2017
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Childcare and Early Education has gained the backing of the National Day Nurseries Association, CACHE and the Foundation Stage Forum as well as the Pre-school Learning Alliance.
There are now sufficient sponsors to go ahead and the APPG is actively seeking a chair, who must be an MP, to take the group’s work forward.
The cross-party group is being set up following a campaign led by Cheryl Hadland, founder of Tops Day Nurseries.
The launch comes at a time when early years is clearly on the agenda, but the sponsors say the childcare and early education sector needs to press politicians of all parties for more progress.
There are a number of unresolved issues such as the roll-out of the 30 hours.
The five sponsors have published a letter in the latest issue of Nursery World, (out on Monday 26 June).
Letter to Nursery World
It has been positive to see early years rise up the political agenda over recent years.
However, with huge amounts of the new Government’s focus and energy occupied by Brexit, it is vital that those in the childcare and early education sector continue pressing politicians.
Most of all, there remain unresolved issues about the 30 hours. This has become ever more important following the publication of the Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos, which called for free childcare to be extended to two-year olds. Free childcare is clearly a vote-winner, so if the direction of travel is towards an expansion of the policy then it is vital we get it on a sustainable footing now.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Childcare and Early Education will be working to ensure that the ideas and concerns of our sector are debated in Parliament.
Steve Edwards, The Foundation Stage Forum; Neil Leitch, Pre-school Learning Alliance; Cheryl Hadland, Tops Day Nurseries; Julie Hyde, CACHE; Purnima Tanuku, National Day Nurseries Association
