Public Childcare Now! organising NOW – CONTACT US

We need fully funded public nurseries! Calling all who want a high quality free-at-the-point-of-use public early years service – with decent terms and conditions for early years workers.

This campaign is building solidarity between different types of public childcare provision, usually pitted against each other.

We connect campaigns against planned cuts and closures of nursery and other early years provision.

We are building a campaign from the grassroots – growing chapters across the country, and support through the union branches of both early years workers at public nurseries under threat, those parents and carers who need childcare, and all those who understand that public childcare is a good for all.

We must stop any more cuts to remaining public nurseries – council-run nurseries and maintained nursery schools – no more loss of vital support for children and knowledge of early years workers.

Demands include:

• Save and expand public nurseries!
  

• Universal public early years childcare services with national pay scales. 30 hours free childcare and education should be for all children!
  

• End the marketisation of early years through the entitlement system
  

• Increase democratic overview of subsidised nurseries. Shift to direct and conditional funding. Private and voluntary sector organisations providing the 30 hours must ensure workers are employed with national pay scales and at real living wage, that additional hours are affordable, and there are no profits to shareholders.
  

• No selling out school classrooms to nursery chains! If public funding is to turn empty school classrooms into nurseries, then local authorities should be supported and fully funded to support community schools to run the provision –  integrated with other council early years services and SEND support.
  

• Reinstate and expand Sure Start across the country to create a truly universal, local authority run and integrated service with sessions and support focused on 0-5yr olds and their carers.
  

• Take private chains into public ownership if they collapse!

Join our meeting to discuss these demands and next steps for a national campaign for public childcare.

Please email for more information, and to join the fight! <postpandemicchildcare@gmail.com>

It would be helpful for organising if you can please include some details – your name, location, nursery, and/or union branch (where appropriate) when you email.