Steve Brine Q&A: Conservative MP calls for childcare reform

The UK’s patchy and expensive childcare system looks likely to be a battleground in the next general election, as families, campaigners and businesses all call for reform. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has come under fire this month for not announcing any childcare reforms since taking office in October. The opposition Labour party has said it would guarantee childcare from the age of nine months to 11 years if elected, although its plans are not yet fully costed. A cross-party Select Committee is also currently looking at the issue of childcare.

Steve Brine is a Conservative MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for childcare and education. He has been vocal about the UK’s urgent need for major childcare reform, and he opposed proposals last year to “relax the ratios” for nurseries and childminders. In this email Q&A, Brine told us about some of the specific reforms he would like to see.

When it comes to childcare in England, can you tell us some specific changes that you would like to see, in order to lower costs for families? 

There definitely needs to be more government support to fund childcare properly and to stop penalising the private sector, which supports the majority of children. The APPG for childcare and early education, of which I am chair, supports the view that any potential solutions must begin with better use of our existing early-years budgets and a fundamental overhaul of how the sector is funded to ensure that the money follows the child.

Money [for Tax-Free Childcare] that is unclaimed should be invested back into the sector, not sent back to the Treasury.

The current landscape of childcare support – across Universal Credit, Tax-Free Childcare and funded hours – is complex for families, government agencies, and local government to budget and plan for. Money is left unspent in Tax-Free Childcare and council budgets that could be supporting children and families. The APPG supports additional funding for SEND children, and money allocated via tax-free credit that is unclaimed should be invested back into the sector, not sent back to the Treasury.

Can you tell us some specific changes that you would like to see, in order to increase the number of available places? The data for children with SEND are particularly worrying.

Ofsted’s latest figures have shown that there has been a consistent reduction in the number of early education and childcare providers. Childcare needs further investment if it is to be more readily available. 

I understand that an increasing number of settings are turning children with SEND away as they struggle with a lack of resources, and policies such as reducing ratios will only exacerbate this issue and work directly against inclusion in the early years. Recent changes to the [rules for the early-years sector] have meant that there is now significantly more paperwork for children with SEND than for other children, and on top of that there are discussions about reducing ratios in settings. These two changes together raise real concerns that rather than become more inclusive, the early years sector will become less inclusive of children with SEND. 

Do you think that the current levels of funding make it hard for childcare providers to maintain quality? There has been a 4% drop since 2019 in those rated Outstanding. 

Providers are facing huge pressures to continue to deliver outstanding quality to our children. 

The current funding formulae announced at the end of last year will fundamentally not help cover rising costs for nurseries in the private, voluntary, or independent (PVI) sector. Figures from the National Day Nurseries Association show that energy costs for providers will be 3-6 times higher than 2021, alongside eye-watering mortgage and rent increases. In addition, from April, PVI nurseries and other childcare providers will face a 10% increase in minimum statutory wages for staff.  

A starting point for the government should be business rates. In 2021, the average nursery’s business rates bill was £13,250 a year.

A starting point for the government should be business rates [taxes on properties used for business purposes]. In 2021, the average nursery’s business rates bill was £13,250 a year, while businesses in retail, leisure and hospitality received a 75% discount through the business rates relief scheme. It is beyond reasoning that some early years settings are being taxed with business rates and VAT that cannot be reclaimed at a higher rate than a high street restaurant, and yet we have allowed it to happen, driving many settings towards closure.

Do you sense any shift in how the government views childcare?

Internationally, the UK has the second lowest level of government investment in the early years, but the highest level of investment from parents. On the plus side, the government seems to be taking the issue more seriously, and I am glad that the issue is being raised more and more in parliament, including an inquiry into early years by the Education Select Committee. 

I think as these issues have become more significant and more urgent, impacting more families across the country, the government has increasingly turned its attention to how we can reform childcare. It hasn’t changed enough, however. We continue to make small, piecemeal changes, and talk about funding that has already been announced and allocated. 

We continue to make small, piecemeal changes, and talk about funding that has already been announced and allocated. 

We need a wholesale, fact-based review of childcare and early education, which focuses upon the workforce, the parents, and ultimately the most important stakeholder – the child.

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Please note – We limited our questions to childcare in England for this Q&A, as there are slightly different rules in each of the devolved nations.

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