Ministers urged to overhaul early years services in England

Children’s commissioner says whole pre-school sector needs reform as well as more funding

The children’s commissioner for England has called for a complete overhaul of early years services, plus a government-funded rescue package to prevent mass closures of nurseries and childcare providers that could go under as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The childcare sector has been hit hard by lockdown, with surveys suggesting as many as one in four nurseries and pre-schools could close within the year, rising to one in three in the deprived areas where children benefit most from early intervention.

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