Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to address staffing gaps in nursery and childcare sectors in Bristol West constituency.

The department acknowledges that recruitment and retention are key issues for the early years sector in England. Supporting the early years workforce continues to be a priority for the department, and we are working proactively with the sector and local authorities, including those in the Bristol West area, to build our understanding of the situation and how we might support the sector to attract more staff to work in early years education and childcare.

The department is providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children and help to address existing recruitment and retention challenges. This includes providing additional funding for graduate level specialist training leading to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years special education needs coordinator (SENCO) qualification. More information on the early years education recovery programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-education-recovery-programme.