An important debate took place in Westminster Hall today, to respond an e-petition titled; “Commission an independent review of childcare funding and affordability”.
The UK has the second most expensive childcare system in the world. A full time place costs, on average, £14,000 per year, making it unaffordable for many families. Childcare workers are low paid and 1 in 10 are officially living in poverty.
Winchester’s MP, Steve Brine, has been championing early years throughout the start of this Parliament and last year took on the role of Chair of the APPG for Childcare and Early Education.
Steve’s role as chair has taken him to a number of meetings with the Chancellor and lead to him speaking in multiple debates through Westminster Hall and the House of Commons.
Speaking today, Steve said; “The importance of this issue in the eyes of our constituents, mine included, is reflected in the fact that almost 113,000 people signed this e-petition, which—as has already been set out.
The public, I think, feel we could do more to create a sustainable future for the early years sector, which I represent here today as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on childcare and early education, which has been mentioned. We in that group have spoken for some time about what I would describe as a market failure in this sector, and the need for a meaningful review of it.”
Steve continued to highlight a number of areas of concern and you can watch his full speech here.
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