Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent nurseries with the recruitment and retention of high-quality practitioners.

We published the Early Years Workforce Strategy in March last year, setting out how we want to work with the sector, including private voluntary and independent nurseries, to bring in new people and make sure there are clear progression and development opportunities to support retention: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy.

We are working very closely with the sector on a wide range of activity to deliver the workforce strategy commitments to support recruitment and retention, including:

o Improving information available to careers advisors so they can better understand career opportunities in the sector and can promote these.

o Consulting on new, strengthened, level two qualification criteria, which will provide a stronger foundation for progression to level three and beyond.

o Funding a new Continuous Professional Development and training hub for early years and the development of new training materials and courses for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities practice.

A new £20 million fund, announced in the social mobility action plan, will also ensure early years practitioners in disadvantaged areas have access to high quality professional development support.