JULIE ELLIOTT: Labour can end this Conservative mess once and for all

The Conservative Party record on education is failing our children.Last year we had the RAAC scandal – the culmination of years of neglect of our school buildings, that forced children to stay at home, away from ceilings that were at risk of falling in, and away from the consequences of 14 years of Conservative neglect.
By Julie ElliottContributor
Published 25th Jan 2024, 00:00 GMT
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Then we had the botched school budget, which left schools with millions less than promised; a kick in the teeth for hardworking teachers who are already having to scrape for resources.

Now, we have seen a £120m error in Childcare budgets, and parents receiving codes to access their childcare that simply don’t work. A campaign group, Pregnant then Screwed, reported that just 1 in 10 eligible parents had a received a code to sign up for the 15 funded hours for two-year-olds come April.

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The Government may have announced a ‘work around’ for this issue, but why should parents trust a rehash of a system that we know is dysfunctional?

Crumbling schools are not being tackled by Tory government, says Julie.Crumbling schools are not being tackled by Tory government, says Julie.
Crumbling schools are not being tackled by Tory government, says Julie.

This approach to some of the most important years in a child’s life is unacceptable and hardworking families with children in Sunderland deserve better.

Expansion of free childcare is essential to support working parents, but 14 years of Conservative government has left the services decimated.

The Women's Budget Group has estimated that there will need to be at least 40,000 additional early years staff to deliver the expanded entitlements, yet the sector is reporting a crisis in both recruitment and retention.

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To add to this, the Department for Education’s projections suggest that some 700,000 additional children are expected to take-up childcare as a result of the expansion – yet the number of childcare providers has declined 5% over the last year.

This does not add up – and the Government are not doing enough to make it work out.

There are serious issues in the sector as a whole, and I do believe that parents in Sunderland and across the country have lost faith in the Conservatives to solve them.

The Vice-Chancellor of Sunderland University is leading Labour’s early years review to ensure that childcare is about life chances for children, as well as work choices for parents.

Labour has a plan to fix this mess, and make sure that no child gets left behind.

It is time for a general election to end this Conservative mess once and for all.

Related topics:LabourRAACGovernmentSunderlandchildcare