Following ongoing pressure from the sector and organisations such as NAHT, in April 2021 the government finally confirmed supplementary funding allocations for the financial year 2021-22.

Previously the Department for Education (DfE) had said that maintained nursery school (MNS) supplementary funding allocations for September 2021 to March 2022 were conditional and might be subject to change, so local authorities should have treated them as unconfirmed. The government has now announced that these allocations are confirmed, and no longer 'conditional'. 

The government has confirmed that MNS supplementary funding allocations for the full financial year 2021/22 should therefore be treated in the same way as the rest of the allocations for the early years block. They are indicative and will be updated to take account of actual attendance, in the same way as the other entitlements. That is the only adjustment that will be made to these figures.

This announcement is long overdue, and yet there remain many issues still to be resolved. NAHT will continue to put pressure on the government to confirm supplementary funding for the summer term of the 2021/22 academic year, and also to finally propose a proper long-term funding solution that ensures the long-term sustainability of maintained nursery schools.