MINISTERS visited a Newquay nursery on a fact-finding mission on Thursday to help shape future early years learning provision.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones was given a tour of Naturally Learning at Nansledan to experience first-hand the vital importance of affordable early years childcare.

The Minister’s nursery visit was part of his spending review tour around the country to consult with communities about how to spend taxpayer money.

The Minister’s nursery visit was part of his spending review tour (Picture: Warren Wilkins) ( )

He spoke to Mandy Richardson and her son Tom, who run Naturally Learning, along with staff and parents to discover the areas where early years education government funding works well and what areas could be improved.

Mr Jones will be taking the information with him to help shape budgets up until the next General Election in 2028.

The Chief Secretary was joined on the visit to Naturally Learning by MP Stephen Morgan, the Minister for Early Education, along with St Austell and Newquay MP Noah Law.

MP Stephen Morgan, the Minister for Early Education, along with St Austell and Newquay MP Noah Law, see how Naturally Learning operates first-hand (Picture: Warren Wilkins) ( )

He explained how the government will be spending more than £8-billion next year to support parents with the cost of childcare and create 3,000 new school-based nurseries by upgrading space in primary schools.

The Chief Secretary saw first-hand the vital importance of affordable early years childcare (Picture: Warren Wilkins) ( )

Mr Jones said: “As Chief Secretary responsible for public spending I’m on a spending review tour to look at how we spend taxpayer’s money in the best possible way.

“It is great to be in Newquay to look at how we are spending money on childcare, which is about £8-billion a year, which is going into nursery provision such as the great nursery here.

“We want to ensure we are providing these types of opportunities across the country.

“Naturally Learning is a fantastic example of how it can be done really well at the heart of the community providing great opportunities for young people but also for their apprentices and staff.

“Nurseries are important for childcare and learning but also for the economy as they provide great jobs for local people and help parents get back into work. I have been on the visit with my colleague from the Department for Education, which looks at how we help nurseries to succeed and grow across the country.

“We are taking a lot of that information back to London as we decide public sector budgets over the next few months, which will set them until 2028/29.”

Tom Richardson from Naturally Learning said: “Having government ministers come and see what we do is a great. It is hugely important to speak directly about what we are doing well and what we need extra help with to understand what is broken in the system and what we’re trying to fix.”

Mr Law said: “It is great to have both the Treasury and Education Ministers visit Naturally Learning to hear about the challenges faced in early years, which is twofold.

“It is about education we provide and the business and operation model that the sector faces. Naturally Healing works through this.

“They have got a wonderful model that is appreciated by families. We are looking at this site to learn from the best.”