NEWS

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenburg following questions about his wife’s financial interest in childminding agency Koru Kids.

An investigation involving Sunak was opened by parliament’s standards watchdog on 13 April 2023. The matter under investigation is listed on the Parliament website as being related to a “declaration of interest” related to paragraph six of the MP’s Code of Conduct. The paragraph cited states that MPs must “always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holder”.

The standards commissioner does not specify what matter is being investigated any further than this, but the development follows recent questions over the Prime Minister’s financial interest in childminding agency Koru Kids.
The Prime Minister published a full list of financial interests, including his wife’s shares in the Koru Kids agency, on 19 April, six days after the investigation was announced. This was first time in almost a year that the list of financial interests has been updated.

In March 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to offer a joining bonus for new childminders when they register. Under the new plans, those that register with Ofsted will be given a £600 joining bonus while those that register with a childminding agency will be given a £1,200 joining bonus.
There are currently six childminding agencies operating in England – including Koru Kids – which could benefit from the doubled bonus for those that join the early years sector via an agency.

Akshata Murty has been listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids since March 2021. According to documents published on Companies House in March 2023, she is still currently a shareholder.

A mother of four – including twin girls aged four, a baby aged nine months and a son – based in Southampton, said: “Right now Healthy Start is not covering the cost of the formula for [my baby].

"The price of formula has changed a lot…I used to buy the same one for £12-14 but right now it is £17. More advertising is needed. For people [who] go at least once or twice a week, the supermarket is the best place to tell more people about Healthy Start. The government should do more advertising and supermarkets can do this. Supermarkets could definitely do more to promote healthy foods instead of junk foods.”

The Food Foundation has called on the government to invest £5 million in marketing spend to increase awareness of the scheme and improve uptake. It has also called for eligibility for the scheme to be extended to include all families on Universal Credit.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: “It is extremely concerning that more than a quarter of households with children under the age of four are facing food insecurity. Every child, regardless of their circumstances, should be able to access affordable, healthy meals – and yet, we know that the cost-of-living crisis is heaping unbearable pressure on families and that, as a result, more and more young children are coming into early years settings hungry.”

The Alliance has called for the new inquiry into the education inspection system to be expended to include the early years.

The ‘Beyond Ofsted’ inquiry is chaired by former schools minister Lord Jim Knight and aims to set out an alternative framework for an education inspection system that is “fit for the increasingly complex needs of schools”.

Currently, the inquiry makes no mention of education settings other than schools. It does not mention early years settings, which are also subject to Ofsted registration and inspection. Early years settings also currently receive the same single-word Ofsted judgments as schools.

The Alliance has called for the scope of the inquiry to be widened to include early years settings as well.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: “Inspection should be about working collaboratively and supportively with education settings to ensure that children and young people receive the best possible quality of provision. However, we know that there are increasing concerns that under the current system, this is simply not the case and as such, it is absolutely right that questions are being asked about whether the existing inspection regime is fit for purpose.

“But the education system doesn’t begin and end with schools. Nurseries, pre-schools and childminding professionals are all required to register with, and be regularly inspected by, Ofsted, and we know that many share the same concerns as their school colleagues: that the current system – and in particular, the singleword grading approach – has created a culture of fear and stress within the sector that is simply not sustainable.

“It is incredibly disappointing, therefore, that the new inquiry currently focuses so narrowly on schools, with no mention of the early years. We urge those leading this review to meet with early years representatives, including the Alliance, with a view to urgently widening the scope of the inquiry. We’re clear that any reform of the inspection system must apply to the entirety of the education sector, and not just part of it.”

New research from charity Theirworld has revealed that one in four parents in the UK has had to quit a job or course of study due to the cost of early education. The charity surveyed more than 7,000 parents and carers with children under the age of seven in the UK, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Nigeria, Turkey and the US.

Almost three-quarters of UK parents (74%) said they found it difficult to afford early education, compared to 52% in India, 57% in the Netherlands, 59% in Nigeria, 68% in the US and 72% in Turkey. The report also highlighted the fact that half of the world’s children – around 350 million – do not have access to early education at all.

In response, the report calls for investment in early education “at a national and local level” including:

• fully trained and funded early years workforce
• funding to support universal access to early education, healthcare and nutrition services
• legal frameworks to support a child’s right to thrive and develop their fullest potential
• family-friendly policies such as parental leave, income support scheme and support for working parents
• setting early years investment targets
  
  

A majority of British people believe that the government should provide funding for a range of services – including early years education – according to a new report by the Fairness Foundation.

The report found that most people now believe that the government should provide services, with 84% of survey respondents agreeing that the government should pay for early years provision. Other areas with high levels of support for government funding include social care (84%), public transport (81%) and housing (77%).

Survey respondents were found to support government funding for these services regardless of their political views, incomes, ages or genders. When asked to prioritise areas which should be funded, if there were limits to what the government could fund, early education came second to only social care.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: “We have always argued that investment into the early years should be seen as an investment into society, and so we warmly welcome the fact that such a large majority of the general public agree that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure equal access to early years services in this country.

“All too often, people ask ‘Why should I pay for someone else’s child to be looked after?’ – but early years provision is so much more than ‘looking after’ young children. Not only does it provide the care that parents need to work and contribute to our economy; it also provides the quality early education needed to ensure that all children, regardless of background, get the best possible start in life.”

IndeedFlex surveyed 2,000 mothers about their response to the campaign and found that 37% believe that even with the additional support announced, early years education and care is still too expensive.

The survey also found that two in every five mothers in the UK say they are unable to return to work due to the cost of early education and care. A third of the mothers surveyed said that they spend more than 30% of their wages on childcare.

Novo Constare, CEO at Indeed Flex, said: “Nursery and childminder costs can swallow a huge chunk of new parents’ earnings, and with the current cost-of-living crisis squeezing every household’s budget, it’s no surprise that some women are put off going back to work.”

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that clinically vulnerable children aged between six months and four-years-old should be offered a Covid-19 vaccine.

While young children remain at a low risk of developing severe illnesses from Covid-19, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that those with underlying medical conditions are seven times more likely to be admitted to paediatric intensive care units as a result.

Vaccinations will be offered to eligible children from mid-June onward. Parents are advised to wait to be contacted rather than coming forward. Eligible vulnerable children will be offered two doses of the vaccine, with a gap of eight to 12 weeks between the two doses.

The JCVI does not currently advise that children in this age group who are not clinically vulnerable should be offered the vaccine. The UKHSA also noted that more than one million children aged between six months and four-years-old in the US have received at least one dose of the vaccine since June 2022.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the UKHSA, said: “Covid-19 is still in circulation, with thousands of new cases reported every week. The extra protection offered by the vaccine could be important for young children in clinical risk groups, who are at greater risk of severe illness. The virus is not going away so I would encourage all parents to bring their child forward if they are eligible. Parents should wait to be contacted by their local health professionals.”