Alex calls for urgent support for Hampshire’s early years sector

Alex Brewer MP calls for urgent change to early years funding, as figures estimate that nearly half of all early year’s childcare providers are struggling to make ends meet.

In Parliament, Alex Brewer MP called on Minister Olivia Bailey for an exemption from the increase in employers National Insurance contributions for early years providers.

The early years sector has been hit hard by tax rises, energy bill and business rates making it almost impossible keep nursery doors open.

Alex Brewer MP held a Westminster Hall debate to shed light on the issue of early years funding in Hampshire. Alongside the debate Alex Brewer MP tabled an Early Day Motion on the same issue.

Providers across Hampshire are being pad in arrears, with funding for a month's care landing in the last three days of that same month, compared with some other counties, who pay before the month even starts. 

Hampshire nurseries are covering an entire month of wages, rent and bills with private fees, which, when combined with low or no profit-margin sets the scene for instability and uncertainty. Young children, working parents and childcare providers all need stability in the sector to thrive. Yet the circumstances are far from ideal for this.

Alex Brewer MP said:

“The question is not simply whether Hampshire has enough childcare places on paper. It is whether every family can access suitable, affordable and high-quality early education and childcare when they actually need it, and whether providers have the funding and workforce to deliver that sustainably.”

“Hampshire's early years providers are not asking for hand-outs. They are asking for the funding that was promised to actually arrive, to be enough and to be on time.”

“A place on a spreadsheet is not the same as a place a family can use, and a "free" hour that no provider can afford to deliver is not free at all. Our children's futures, and those caring for them, deserve nothing less.”