All Party Group on Early Education and Childcare May meeting

What are All Party Groups?

 All Party Groups provide a forum by which Northern Ireland MLAs and outside organisations and individuals can meet to discuss shared interests in a particular cause or subject.

The purpose of the All Party Group on Early Education and Childcare is to promote best practice policy and provision in the delivery of early education and childcare in Northern Ireland.

Further details of the All Party Group on Early Education and Childcare, including its membership and meeting dates, is available on the NI Assembly website.

The Northern Ireland Assembly All Party Group on Early Education and Childcare met on 28 May 2026.

The meeting of the All Party Group opened with updates on the Early Learning and Childcare Strategy, noting positive public consultation feedback on standardisation, workforce measures, and increased financial support, alongside concerns over implementation timelines and rising childcare provider fees.

While full analysis will be published in due course the Education Minister remains committed to bringing the final Early Learning and Childcare Strategy to the Executive as soon as possible.

At the end of April, representatives from the NI Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Business and Sleepy Hollow Group briefed the Economy and Education Committees. While the Early Learning and Childcare Strategy was welcomed, the contributors highlighted challenges including the affordability of childcare, workforce funding and staffing costs.

While the Northern Ireland Executive budgets for 2026/27 have yet to be agreed, the Education Minister has provided funding to the end of June for existing early years programmes which run in line with school term time. The draft Executive Budget proposes £195m for the Early Learning and Childcare Strategy over the next 3 years, this amount is below the projected cost of delivering the draft strategy over this time frame, as a result the Department of Education cannot yet commit to further funding or timescales. The Minister will continue to seek to secure support for early learning and childcare in 2026/27.

The Group  was also updated on the Consultation on Proposals to amend the Minimum Standards for Childminding and Daycare for children under age 12. The consultation focused on two key issues, regarding GP-countersigned health assessments and on changes to adult-to-child ratios in childminding and day care.

The results show majority support for limiting GP health declarations to senior roles within childcare facilities. Regarding the changes to ratios, the proposed changes to childminding ratios were opposed by the majority of respondents mainly due to safety and quality concerns, while proposed changes to day care ratios had majority  support.