Nursery schools need extra £96m to survive, DfE is told

Heads and teachers’ leaders in joint call for government to provide long-term solution for maintained nursery schools

5th October 2021, 6:20pm

School leaders and teachers have called for nearly £100 million of permanent additional funding to be given to maintained nursery schools in the upcoming government spending review.

The NAHT school leaders’ union, and the NEU teachers’ union are part of a joint submission which says that an additional £96.5 million is needed to avoid further closures and cuts in staffing.

The sector has been given around £60 million supplementary funding since 2017-18 but now the organisations responsible for maintained nursery school (MNS) staff are urging the government to provide a long-term solution through a funding formula.

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The submission, which was also drawn up by the British Association for Early Childhood Education (Early Education) and Unison, says the government needs to reverse a “12 per cent real-terms cut to supplementary funding over the past five years”.

It also says that MNS funding needs to be “sufficient, and sufficiently predictable, to maintain stability of staffing with SEND expertise”.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Quite frankly, this situation has gone on for far too long.

“It is simply not acceptable for maintained nursery schools to go from one term to the next not knowing what their funding situation will be.

“The current funding arrangements were only ever designed to be a sticking plaster, while a long-term solution was found. We cannot wait any longer for that solution to be provided.

“We urge government to use this autumn’s Comprehensive Spending Review as an opportunity to provide this crucial part of the early years sector with the sufficient and sustainable funding it so desperately needs.”

The submission describes the remaining 385 maintained nursery schools in the UK as a “unique resource” offering “outstanding education and care” to 40,000 children.

“In the aftermath of the pandemic, the financial situation of maintained nursery schools has deteriorated markedly,” it adds.

“While private nurseries in affluent areas may turn over a healthy profit, the same does not hold for voluntary or maintained early years providers, and especially not those operating in disadvantaged areas.”

In a letter to new education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, the unions also called for the government to provide an “annual lump sum payment and increase the level of early years pupil premium in line with primary school funding”, to centrally reimburse business rates of state primary schools and to fund them on a “nationally consistent basis”.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “Maintained nursery schools have proven time and time again that they are centres of excellence, as all are graded as outstanding or good by Ofsted.

“They are often located in the most deprived areas of the country and provide skills and resources which support children with SEND.

“It is deeply damaging to these schools that year after year they have to live hand to mouth, uncertain of their financial future.

“In the past 12 months, four more maintained nursery schools have been forced to close due to insufficient funding. Only 385 maintained nursery schools remain. Supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools was a stop-gap measure. It is completely unacceptable for the government to take over five years to provide a long-term funding solution.”

Beatrice Merrick, chief executive of Early Education, said: “Maintained nursery schools have a vital role to play in supporting post-pandemic recovery but they can only do this if they have financial security going forward.

“They play a vital role in supporting 40,000 children in some of the most deprived areas of the country and have an outstanding record in levelling up disadvantaged children’s outcomes to match those of their more advantaged peers.

“They also provide support for children with complex needs who would otherwise struggle to find appropriate early education places. This is a sector which time and again goes the extra mile to deliver key government policies for young children. Is it too much to ask that they should have the same financial security as other schools to enable to them to continue their vital work?”