Have your say
The House of Commons Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry into early years sector issues around the sustainability of its workforce, families’ access to services and the quality of outcomes for young children.
This is an opportunity for MNS members to continue their hard work in making the case for MNS investment and expansion.
We encourage you to answer as many questions as you’d like. These are the arguments MNS members make to us, and may be worth including in your response:
- The importance of a highly qualified workforce
- The high quality of MNS provision and their role in supporting the sector
- The vital role MNS play in supporting disadvantaged children and/or those with SEND
- The need to invest and expand MNS to give every child the best start in life
The deadline for receiving written submissions is 6pm on Friday 10 October 2025.
Submit your response
There are only approximately 379 MNS remaining in England serving 40,000 children, many located in the most deprived areas of the country.
MNS give our youngest children the best start in life, including those with special educational needs and disabilities – and ensure access to the highest quality provision for families in the poorest parts of the country.
Funding
Since the introduction of the Early Years National Funding Formula EYNFF, the percentage of MNS in deficit has increased from 20% in 2017 to 33% in 2024 and, more significantly, the total deficit has grown from £4.9m to £29m, despite huge cuts.
Recent increases in funding have not prevented further MNS closures. Gaps remain in current funding allocations and funded hour entitlements. The Early Years funding formula must recognise that MNS require a different level of funding than the rest of the sector due to their higher costs.
We call on the government to prevent closure of MNS by:
- Increasing the supplementary funding to cover all funded hour entitlements so that MNS are not penalised for delivering government policy.
- Guaranteeing long-term supplementary funding as part of the Early Years Funding Formula. increased annually in line with increases in teachers’ pay, pension costs, NI costs, business rates, and inflation.
- Ensuring SEND funding covers the full cost of provision and encourage long-term solutions including resourced provision within MNS.
School based nurseries (SBN)
The government plan to open over three thousand new nursery classes across England using spare primary school classrooms, converted into nurseries. These nurseries could be run by the primary schools themselves, or by local private and voluntary sector nursery providers (PVIs).
The NEU and its allies want to see children and educators at the centre of any early education policy and high-quality early education as an outcome. As it stands, we do not believe this policy meets these aims.
Not enough is being done to protect MNS. Our members are not convinced that their workplaces will be protected as SBNs begin to open. It is a missed opportunity that government has not utilised the wealth of expertise in the MNS sector to deliver its early education and childcare goals.