A significant proportion of nurseries in England do not receive a level of funding that covers the costs of providing a free nursery education session. Government requires the session to be ‘free at the point of delivery’, meaning that in many cases nurseries are left making up the shortfall between the cost of a session and the funding received. This is having damaging consequences for the sustainability of nurseries, and makes it harder for them to reinvest money in quality.
NDNA and its members support the principles of free nursery education and the benefits it offers to children and families. However, we are clear that sessions should be adequately funded so that these are free to both the parent and the provider – this is even more urgent now families can access an extended entitlement of 15 hours. Click the links below to discover more about how we have been representing you on this important issue, and what you can do to highlight the issue.
