A Better Start in Life

Submitted by: Federal Policy Committee.
Mover: Munira Wilson MP (Spokesperson for Education, Children and Young People).
Summation: Cllr Dine Romero (Chair of the Policy Working Group).

Conference believes that flexible, affordable childcare and early years education is a critical part of a liberal society and contributes to economic performance because:

1. It gives parents more choice over how to organise their lives and helps them return to work if they want to.
2. Lack of access to affordable childcare is a key driver of the gender pay gap.
3. High-quality early years education is the best possible investment in the future and the most effective way of narrowing the gap between rich and poor children.

Conference also believes that:

1. Parents should also have greater flexibility and choice over how to juggle work with parenting in the first months of their child's life and many fathers would like to have more involvement in directly caring for their children.
2. All parents, whether or not they wish to return to work or spend more time raising their children, deserve more help.

Conference further believes that every child deserves access to high-quality education, including children with young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and that early diagnosis is crucial.

Conference recalls that:

1. In Government, Liberal Democrats increased the number free childcare hours for three- and four-year-olds, introduced 15 hours a week of free early years education for disadvantaged two-year-olds, and created the Early Years Pupil Premium to give extra support to disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds.
2. At the 2019 general election, Liberal Democrats called for a properly-funded entitlement to free, high-quality childcare for every child aged two to four and children aged between nine and 24 months where their parents or guardians are in work: 35 hours a week, 48 weeks a year.

Conference regrets that the funding promised by the Conservatives for their 30 hour childcare proposal falls far short of what it will actually cost to provide these hours or to address the existing underfunding of early years provision, and may exacerbate the problems parents already face: a lack of nursery or childminder places and eye-watering fees for full-time childcare.

Conference therefore endorses the vision for early years and childcare set out in policy paper 152, A Better Start in Life, and in particular welcomes its proposals to:

1. Move towards our vision of universal free high-quality childcare and early years education by:
   1. Fixing the problems with the Government's expansion of free childcare, starting with a review of the rates paid to providers to ensure they cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality childcare and early years education.
   2. Investing in high-quality early years education and closing the attainment gap by giving disadvantaged children aged two to four an extra five free hours a week and tripling the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1,000 a year.
   3. Developing a career strategy for nursery staff, including a training programme with the majority of those working with children aged two to four to have a relevant Early Years qualification or be working towards one.
   4. Restoring childminding as a valued part of the early years system by replacing the three different current registration processes with a single childcare register and commissioning a practitioner-led review to simplify regulation, reduce administrative burdens and attract new childminders while maintaining high standards.
   5. Reaffirming our long-term commitment universal free childcare as set out in our last election manifesto.
2. Achieve greater flexibility and choice for parents by:
   1. Giving all families (including self-employed parents, adoptive parents and kinship carers):
      1. 6 weeks of use-it-or-lose-it leave for each parent, paid at 90% of earnings.
      2. 46 weeks of parental leave to share between themselves as they choose, paid at the level of the minimum wage (double the current statutory rate).
   2. Introducing paid neonatal care leave.
   3. Paying an enhanced rate of Child Benefit for one- year-olds.
3. Ensure every child with SEND or potential SEND considerations has the support they need by:
   1. Giving local authorities extra funding to halve the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child's Education, Health and Care plan.
   2. Introducing a National Body for SEND which will fund the costs of very high needs over £25,000 a year.
   3. Addressing the chronic shortage of speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to provide timely assessments of individual children, in order to assign individual Educational Health & Care Plans where appropriate

Applicability: England only; except 2. (lines 70-80), which is Federal.

Motion before amendment

Submitted by: Federal Policy Committee.
Mover: Munira Wilson MP (Spokesperson for Education, Children and Young People).
Summation: Cllr Dine Romero (Chair of the Policy Working Group).

Conference believes that flexible, affordable childcare and early years education is a critical part of a liberal society and contributes to economic performance because:

1. It gives parents more choice over how to organise their lives and helps them return to work if they want to.
2. Lack of access to affordable childcare is a key driver of the gender pay gap.
3. High-quality early years education is the best possible investment in the future and the most effective way of narrowing the gap between rich and poor children.

Conference also believes that:

1. Parents should also have greater flexibility and choice over how to juggle work with parenting in the first months of their child's life and many fathers would like to have more involvement in directly caring for their children.
2. All parents, whether or not they wish to return to work or spend more time raising their children, deserve more help.

Conference further believes that every child deserves access to high-quality education, including children with young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and that early diagnosis is crucial.

Conference recalls that:

1. In Government, Liberal Democrats increased the number free childcare hours for three- and four-year-olds, introduced 15 hours a week of free early years education for disadvantaged two-year-olds, and created the Early Years Pupil Premium to give extra support to disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds.
2. At the 2019 general election, Liberal Democrats called for a properly-funded entitlement to free, high-quality childcare for every child aged two to four and children aged between nine and 24 months where their parents or guardians are in work: 35 hours a week, 48 weeks a year.

Conference regrets that the funding promised by the Conservatives for their 30 hour childcare proposal falls far short of what it will actually cost to provide these hours or to address the existing underfunding of early years provision, and may exacerbate the problems parents already face: a lack of nursery or childminder places and eye-watering fees for full-time childcare.

Conference therefore endorses the vision for early years and childcare set out in policy paper 152, A Better Start in Life, and in particular welcomes its proposals to:

1. Move towards our vision of universal free high-quality childcare and early years education by:
   1. Fixing the problems with the Government's expansion of free childcare, starting with a review of the rates paid to providers to ensure they cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality childcare and early years education.
   2. Investing in high-quality early years education and closing the attainment gap by giving disadvantaged children aged two to four an extra five free hours a week and tripling the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1,000 a year.
   3. Developing a career strategy for nursery staff, including a training programme with the majority of those working with children aged two to four to have a relevant Early Years qualification or be working towards one.
   4. Restoring childminding as a valued part of the early years system by replacing the three different current registration processes with a single childcare register and commissioning a practitioner-led review to simplify regulation, reduce administrative burdens and attract new childminders while maintaining high standards.
   5. Reaffirming our long-term commitment universal free childcare as set out in our last election manifesto.
2. Achieve greater flexibility and choice for parents by:
   1. Giving all families (including self-employed parents, adoptive parents and kinship carers):
      1. 6 weeks of use-it-or-lose-it leave for each parent, paid at 90% of earnings.
      2. 46 weeks of parental leave to share between themselves as they choose, paid at the level of the minimum wage (double the current statutory rate).
   2. Introducing paid neonatal care leave.
   3. Paying an enhanced rate of Child Benefit for one- year-olds.
3. Ensure every child with SEND has the support they need by:
   1. Giving local authorities extra funding to halve the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child's Education, Health and Care plan.
   2. Introducing a National Body for SEND which will fund the costs of very high needs over £25,000 a year.

Applicability: England only; except 2. (lines 70-80), which is Federal.

Mover and summation: 16 minutes combined; movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 110-111 of the agenda.

The deadline for amendments to this motion and for separate votes is 13.00 Monday 11 September. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily.

In addition to speeches from the platform, voting members will be able to make concise (maximum one minute) interventions from the floor during the debate on the motion. See pages 109 and 111 of the agenda further information.

Amendments

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: Sheffield
Mover: Rebecca Atkinson.
Summation: Sue Alston. 

In 3. (line 81), after ‘SEND’ insert: ‘or potential SEND considerations’.

After b) (line 86), insert:

c)      Addressing the chronic shortage of speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to provide timely assessments of individual children, in order to assign individual Educational Health & Care Plans where appropriate.