A searing Public Accounts Committee report into the 30-hours entitlement noted this week that ‘The department does not have a workforce plan for the early years sector’.
The Government says a plan will be published before the end of the year, but this will do little to appease those in the sector struggling in the face of now officially-recognised recruitment shortages at both level 3 and degree level.
The report said, ‘The ‘department does not have robust plans to make sure there are enough qualified early years staff so that providers can continue to offer high quality childcare. The childcare sector has become increasingly professional with an increase in graduate-level recruits, which has had a positive impact on quality. Providers are now reporting that they are struggling to recruit high-quality staff, and there has been a decline in applicants to graduate-level qualifications.’
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