Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to improve staff retention at nurseries and other early years childcare settings.

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 to help address retention challenges. We are funding a range of programmes, including additional funding for graduate level specialist training, leading to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years special education needs coordinator qualification. More information on the early years education recovery programme can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-education-recovery-programme.

The department also has a range of support for staff who take advantage of training opportunities. For example, the early years initial teacher training programme includes an employer incentive payment to cover trainee travel costs, to support release time for trainee mentoring and for other associated costs such as purchasing training materials. Similarly, across all three phases of the professional development programme, nurseries and childminders receive a day rate for programme attendees, to cover various costs including travel and subsistence and to cover for staff absence. Our early years experts and mentors, recruited from the sector to support those most in need, will be paid a day rate to ensure costs do not fall to their employer.