Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of recruitment shortages in early years education on the Government's commitment to provide parents with 30 hours free childcare.

The Government recognises the importance of the early years workforce in ensuring that existing childcare providers can expand and for new providers entering the market, helping to build a stronger economy and giving parents increased choice. We want to continue to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver good quality early years provision and the Government has committed to developing a workforce strategy to help employers to do this. As part of this strategy we are reviewing career progression routes in the sector to see what improvements can be made to help new and existing staff achieve their potential and forge a successful career in early years.

The Government has recently published a consultation on the literacy and numeracy skills needed to perform as a Level 3 Early Years Educator following strong messages from the sector that current requirements are creating a barrier to attracting and retaining high quality staff.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/level-3-early-years-educator-numeracy-and-literacy-requirements