Reacting to the announcements on childcare in today’s Budget statement, Education Committee Chair Robin Walker MP said:
“This huge expansion of free childcare to millions of families, from the age of nine months to starting school, answers many of the calls that I and MPs of all parties have been banging the drum for.
This is an investment in the education of small children during their early development – acquiring language and socialising – giving them a head start when they begin school.
The extra funding to support the existing subsidised hours for older children is positive, but the Education Committee has heard that the new funding is needed right now.
