MATs to get the majority of new nursery funding

Blog 42 checks in on Phillipson's new nursery funding announcement and considers the NEU's contribution to the 'Year of Trade Union Climate Action'.

Phillipson Gives the Majority of School-Based Nursery Funds to MATs

Louise O’Hare from ‘Public Childcare Now’ explains how the new nursery funding announcement benefits MATs at the expense of the maintained sector.

Research carried out by the campaign group ‘Public Childcare Now’ shows nearly two thirds of the new school-based nurseries will be opened in schools run by multi-academy trusts (MATs) thanks to Bridget Phillipson’s allocation of funding. What is more, the notorious Gorse Academies Trust in Leeds is one of the recipients.

In May ‘Education Uncovered’ published the group’s research which shows the majority of funding had been awarded to MATs: noting that, by contrast, ‘the local authority school sector had only half the number of projects approved that would be expected, given the proportion of non-academy primaries.’

There is a legitimate concern that the bias towards MATs will give them an advantage in recruiting pupils to their primary schools at a time of falling rolls, embedding academy dominance.

As Jo Henley, Maintained Nursery School teacher, and National Education Union member, explains:

‘The expansion of the academy system is likely to weaken remaining public infrastructure, and integration with wider local early years support services. Both community schools and Maintained Nursery Schools will be impacted by academy nurseries opening up shop next door.’

Maintained Nursery Schools were excluded from applying for the scheme, and there is no extra funding for staff to run the school-based nurseries. The expansion is reliant on the existing entitlement funding – the ‘free childcare’ hours model that has embedded privatisation. This offers no guarantee of quality because qualified nursery teachers and highly trained staff are more expensive to employ. It is skilled, experienced, early years staff, not just bricks and mortar, that makes high quality early years education and care. Yet these school-based nurseries even in maintained schools, could be ‘governor-led’ or completely outsourced. They don’t have to be run by the school, and so they won’t necessarily be run by staff on decent local authority terms and conditions.

Department for Education data shows that a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) childcare provider will run 27 of the nurseries in schools being renovated through the Government capital funding, with 13 new nurseries being built for PVIs to run.

Two weeks ago, the SEA Convenor in parliament, Labour MP, Steve Witherden, raised concerns about the roll-out of the Government’s school-based nursery scheme, at Education Questions drawing attention to the Public Childcare Now analysis.

The Labour MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr noted in the Commons that ‘we are fortunate not to have academies in Wales’. However, ‘concerns remain that this model encourages privatisation, reduces accessibility and undermines staff pay and conditions, contributing to greater educational fragmentation.’

He asked the Secretary of State for Education for assurances ‘that expanding entitlements without investing in public infrastructure will not exacerbate these issues?’ You can access the debate here.

In her response Bridget Phillipson, claimed ‘academies drive up standards and are an important part of the system we have’. She praised the last Labour Government for initiating the academies programme claiming without evidence that it has driven up ‘performance in our schools’ and made ‘sure that all our children get a brilliant education.’ These comments contrast with last year’s Labour Party manifesto, which acknowledged issues with MATs in terms of inclusivity: safeguarding and off-rolling.

The exchange in the Commons happened in the wake of revelations, that Gorse Academy Trust, a chain of 15 schools, is facing a judicial review after three pupils clocked up over 1000 hours of isolation between them. The review will challenge the ‘impact on their education, socialisation and mental health’. Issues with Gorse Academies Trust have previously been raised by Education Uncovered with reports of high teacher turnover rates, employment of family members, and in one case, the alleged negative impact of ‘positive discipline’ on an autistic child The trust was accused of over-use of isolation and suggestions of potential off rolling as early as 2016.

Gorse Academies Trust has received capital funding to expand nursery provision in three of their primary academies in Leeds. Is this the innovation in early years education and care that the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Equalities is seeking?

Louise O’Hare is an organiser with Public Childcare Now. Please see ‘Nurseries in schools - Academisation of Early Years’, Education Uncovered (May 2025) for further details of the analysis by Louise O’Hare and Jo Henley.

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Year of Trade Union Climate Action

Paul Atkin of NEU Climate Change Network outlines union plans for climate action campaigns

As we swelter through another long hot summer all over the northern hemisphere, and the US administration doubles down to "drill baby drill" and sets up a new "gold standard" review body to revise scientific papers so that their conclusions stay in line with climate denial, US dark money funds a tsunami of climate misinformation (and Reform UK) and the UK government's Spending Review and infrastructure plan presents us with a curate's egg - investment levels broadly flat, except for military spending - a bit more money for public transport but a lot more for a herd of nuclear white elephants - the Year of Trade Union Climate Action, endorsed by last year's TUC and reaffirmed by the recent Trades Councils conference, will be a timely opportunity for union members to organise together with climate campaigns to mobilise the popular majority for transformative climate action.

This draft motion being circulated by the NEU's Climate Change Network for discussion in union Districts sets out a plan of work to get the year going. The September demonstration could well overlap with a Trump visit and the core mobilisations around the country will be the Workplace day of action on Friday 14^th November and the global day of action on the 15th, coinciding with the COP in Brazil.

The idea of the year of action started with UNISON, so we can expect events at Town Halls on the 14th. Anyone in the SEA keen to take this up could take up the ideas in the NEU motion and start liaising with other union members and sketching out a mobilisng plan for the Autumn.

Updates will unroll as the year does. Info currently available on the CACCTU website and in Greener Jobs Alliance Newsletters.

NEU Model Motion

In support of the trade union year of climate action endorsed by the TUC and NEU Conference, we commit to

• engage with the local Trades Council, other unions and local climate campaigns to establish mobilising networks for the year of action

• mobilise for mass actions in the autumn starting with the Make Them Pay demonstration on September 20th, the Workplace day of action on Friday November 14th and the Global Day of action around the COP on November 15th.

• promote and build the conference/festival being organised by education unions and climate campaigns in the Spring

• promote and publicise the webinars that will punctuate the year of action

• build green bargaining into local Reps training,

• survey local schools on Climate Action Plans, Sustainability leads, National Nature Park membership

• propose the Local Authority sets up a Network of these covering the whole local family of schools

• ensure that at least one of the District Officers on the local committee has this as part of their brief, with support from lay activists