Tulip Siddiq – 2021 Comments on Early Years Staying Open

The comments made by Tulip Siddiq, the Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years, on 5 January 2021.

Early years settings can stay open during the lockdown, but the Government’s change to their funding from this month has pushed 20,000 providers to the brink of collapse.

The new lockdown is likely to wipe out demand for childcare, hitting providers’ incomes even further and pushing many nurseries and child-minding businesses over the edge.

The Government urgently needs to rethink this funding change and give the sector the targeted support it needs. Early years staff and families of young children also need reassurances about safety at a very worrying time.