New Ofsted data showing recent changes in the number of early years provider places in England is the latest in a series of surveys, research reports and statistics that show just how disastrous an impact years of underfunding has had on England’s early years sector.

According to the figures, between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, the number of early years providers in England fell by around 4,000: the largest decline in provider numbers since 2015-16.

But as alarming as these figures are, is it really any surprise, given the continued underfunding of the sector?

A problem for all to see - yet still being ignored 

Every day, early educators across the sector go above and beyond to provide the very best care and education to young children - and yet, year after year, the gap between the costs of delivering so-called “free” childcare places and the funding that government provides to deliver them continues to widen, pushing more and more providers to the brink until, increasingly, they have no option but to close.

Childminders - who, it should be noted, deliver the kind of flexible early education and care that more and more parents need as working patterns change post-pandemic - continue to account for the greater number of closures, with losses of 16,600 childminders since 2015, a decrease of 35 per cent in under seven years.

In what other part of the education sector would you see the loss of more than a third of providers without so much as a comment from those in power?

When confronted with provider closure figures, the government tends to argue that all is fine because the overall number of early years places in England has remained stable over recent years. But such a focus completely ignores the huge regional disparities in place availability across the country.

Analysis of Ofsted’s regional data by my organisation, the Early Years Alliance, found that almost half of all local authorities recorded a drop in early years places over the past five years, with one in eight seeing a decline of more than 10 per cent.

And, of course, the statistics from Ofsted paint only part of the picture.

Retention and pay woes

A sector survey conducted by the Early Years Alliance at the end of last year found that more than a third of the early years workforce is actively considering leaving the sector and, of those, two-thirds say their experiences during the pandemic have increased the chances of them leaving.

A separate survey, carried out at the start of this year, found that 92 per cent of early years settings supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities had to fund additional support for those children out of their own pockets.

Early years professionals are doing their very best to provide the quality care and education that young children need and, with 96 per cent of them are still rated “good” and “outstanding”, by and large they are doing a fantastic job.

But the current situation is simply not sustainable.

We have setting after setting closing their doors, educator after educator walking away from the sector, and all at a time when young children need stable, consistent care and education more than ever before.

To describe the early years as a sector in crisis isn’t hyperbole, it’s a statement of fact.

The long-term impact on education outcomes 

Most importantly, these challenges don’t just affect the early years sector. Back in May, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published new research which revealed that just 59 per cent of children were reaching the expected levels of development in all areas of learning by the end of Reception year in 2021, down from 72 per cent in 2019.

Similarly, a survey of schools conducted as part of the research found that 76 per cent of respondents felt the children starting school in 2020 needed more support than those who joined before the pandemic.

In response to the findings, Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the EEF, said: “In light of today’s evidence, fair access to high-quality early years provision is more important than ever.

“If the government are to meet their rightfully ambitious targets on numeracy and literacy by 2030, there needs to be a concerted focus on the early years.

“Making our school system fairer must start with giving every child the foundation to succeed.”

I couldn’t agree with him more.

Why it affects us all

Problems for the early years sector are problems for the entire education sector.

If early years providers start to struggle to provide the high-quality care and education that they strive to deliver to young children because of a sustained lack of adequate funding or chronic staffing shortages, the impact on those children will be felt, not just while they are at their early years settings but also in the primary and secondary years that follow.

We all know that the first five years of a child’s live are crucial to their long-term learning and development - and so, whether early years or not, if you are an education professional, statistics like the ones published by Ofsted should worry you, too.

Neil Leitch is the chief executive of the Early Years Alliance