Robert Syms, MP for Poole, visited a day nursery last Friday to hear about plans to provide 30 hours of funded childcare to 3 and 4 year old children in Poole from September.
Robert was shown around the nursery by Cheryl Hadland, founder of the Tops Day Nurseries chain. They discussed how the funded childcare would support more parents in Poole to find employment, as well as other issues of concern to nurseries in the area such as business and VAT rates and levels of Government funding.
Robert said:
“It was great to spend time at the Tops nursery in Poole and to see how the nursery is nurturing children and helping to give them the best start in life. Soon 3 and 4 year old children in Poole will be able to receive 30 hours of free childcare, and I discussed with Cheryl how this will help working parents to make their work pay.
“I am pleased the Government recently made changes to qualifications required to become an Early Years Educator apprentice as this will help more young people to become childcare practitioners. Private nurseries are facing many challenges, and I will be speaking with my parliamentary colleagues about how we can best support them.”
Cheryl Hadland said:
“I was delighted to host Robert at our Tops Poole nursery and to show him the great work we do to provide our children with a rich learning environment. I was pleased to discuss with Robert the Government’s funding for 30-hours of childcare that will begin in Poole later this year, as well as the great work we do training apprentices to deliver a high quality early education to children.
“There are other issues private nurseries in the Borough are facing, such as big increases in business rates and the fact that the government does not fund childcare enough to meet our costs of providing the service. This is why I am looking forward to working with Robert to resolve these issues and ensure that all young children in Poole have the best possible life chances.”