[NAME] MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A OAA

RE: Free early education entitlement funding

Dear [NAME]MP,

I am writing to you as a [job title] based in your constituency of [name of area], and as a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, to express my concerns about the continued lack of adequate funding for the freeearly education entitlement scheme for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

As you may be aware, the Alliance – which is the largest early years membership organisation in England – recently commissioned an independent report into the free entitlement scheme, which found that, on average, government funding only covers the cost of four out of every five children accessing funded places – forcing early years providers to make up the shortfall.

My own experience is that [insert your own experience of underfunding here: for example, have you struggled to cope with rising business costs? Do you rely on fundraising/the work of volunteers to stay afloat? Are you concerned about the viability of your business?].

I know that the need to reduce childcare costs has been identified as a key political issue in the run-up to next year’s election. However, if early years provision in England isto be affordable, high-quality and sustainable, the problem of inadequate free entitlement funding must be addressed as a priority.

In order to tackle this issue, the Alliance is calling on the next government to:

  • undertake a full, in-depth review of the free entitlement funding system, including a large-scale analysis of the cost of delivering funding places (conducted at intervals across the year to allow for variations in occupancy).
  • introduce a statutory requirement on local authorities to collect annual data from local providers on the cost of delivering free entitlement places.
  • undertake an annual review of free entitlement funding levels and how they compare to the cost of delivering places using data collated from local authorities, with a report published on the findings.
  • ringfence the Early Years funding block within the Dedicated Schools Grant.

As my local MP, I would ask that you raise thisissue with your colleagues working within the area ofchildcare, and education more generally, and urge them toensure that this problem is addressed as a matter of urgency.

Thank you for your support on this matter. I would be happy to discuss this further and can be contacted on [contact number].

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours sincerely,

[signature]

[Name]

[Address]