Nursery owners have warned of the dangers of a ‘two-tier system’ being created, with low-income families and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) increasingly unable to access funded entitlements.
In a wide-ranging debate, the panel at Nursery World's Business Summit talked about how size impacts the quality of nurseries, the pros and cons of small versus bigger groups, the influence of private equity investment on large nursery groups, and concerns about providers’ ability to support children in deprived areas and take on the rising numbers of children with SEND.
June O’Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation warned of a growing economic and social divide as the market undergoes 'a controversial' shift with the Government funding the majority of places through expanding offers.
If Government expansion of the 15- and 30 funded offers continues as planned, private and voluntary nursery providers could become the ‘third arm of the welfare state’, she argued.
