Early childhood providers struggle to survive, warns Sheffield education chief UK News

Education executive councilor Jayne Dunn says those early years are critical to a child’s development and child care is fundamental to the economy, but she fears that many providers Sheffield cannot survive.

She highlighted the Closed Doors by Action for Children report, which examined the use of children’s centers between 2014/15 and again between 2017/18.

He said: “Despite the importance of children’s centers for many families, their existence is threatened.

“Years of budget cuts have left city councils with no choice but to cut budgets for children’s centers. As resources are increasingly strained, a number of centers have closed. Many of those who remain have been forced to reduce the level of service offered. “

Councilor Dunn will raise the issue at a council meeting next week. She said: “Nationally, more than 1,000 Sure Start centers have been lost since 2010.

“About 12,000 early childhood education and child care providers have been lost since 2015 and another 30,000 early childhood providers are at risk of shutting down within a year.

“This is the legacy of the government’s reckless austerity policies aimed at cutting spending for the most needy children.

“The industry has also been disproportionately affected by Covid and, although the early years were used to allow key workers to continue working during the pandemic, they received insufficient financial protection. “

Coun Dunn is concerned that historic underfunding, rising costs and the impact of the pandemic threaten the survival of early childhood providers in Sheffield.

“Sheffield continues to be underfunded compared to other local authorities with the disparity in Sheffield’s funded early learning hourly rate compared to other central cities.

I call on the government to address this disparity and provide Sheffield with a fair funding deal.

“There must also be additional investments to ensure that every child can recover the learning and social development lost during the pandemic and have the chance to reach their full potential. “