Government looking at ‘challenge’ of nursery staff shortages ahead of expansion

The Government is looking at what action needs to be taken to improve nursery staff shortages ahead of its full expansion of funded childcare, the Education Secretary has suggested.

Bridget Phillipson said she is not going to run away from the “big challenges” facing the early years sector as she acknowledged that the training, support and progression for staff is “not right”.

The Department for Education (DfE) announced on Thursday that primary schools can now apply for a share of £15 million capital funding to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries in England.

The expansion of funded childcare for working parents – which was introduced by the Conservative government – began being rolled out in England in April.

Working parents of children older than nine months are now able to access 15 hours of funded childcare, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September 2025.

Ms Phillipson said she is “looking at what more we have to do around training and support and progression” in relation to improving the retention and recruitment of nursery staff.

When asked about early years staff shortages, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she acknowledged the “challenge”.

But she said she wants to see “more support” for families which is why the Government has begun the first stage of its plan to open more nurseries.

The Education Secretary added: “But on the workforce side, absolutely, people who work in early years education and childcare do some of the most important work you can ever do in terms of their contribution to children’s life chances and to our country, and we’re looking very carefully at what more we have to do around training and support and progression because it’s just not right at the moment, I completely accept that.”

When it was put to her that the early years staff would love a pay rise, Ms Phillipson said: “Well, of course, many businesses operate privately, smaller providers, and pay is absolutely a part of that, I completely recognise it. That’s why we are investing more in the sector overall.

“But we’re not going to fix this overnight. You know, little more than three months into a Labour Government, you can see that we’re working really hard to get on with this as quickly as we can.

“But there are some big challenges, and I’m not going to run away from those.”

The DfE said more than 320,000 additional children are now accessing 15 hours of funded childcare a week.

But the latest DfE projections show around half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet the September demand.

Some areas, including ones that see traditionally lower household incomes such as Northumberland, Plymouth and Rotherham, need an increase of more than 20%.

The Government has vowed to take action to tackle reported instances of parents facing “very high additional charges” on top of the funded hours, which could include mandatory extra charges for nappies, lunch or other “consumables”.

The DfE will engage with local authorities and providers to clarify statutory guidance on charging, including on so-called “top-up fees” and will consider how it can support councils to protect parents from overcharging.

Ms Phillipson told Times Radio on Thursday that allowing primary schools to bid for money to open nurseries will “allow children and families more choices”.

She said: “When I said early years education was my number one priority, I meant it, and that’s why I’m so delighted today that we’re inviting schools to bid to open nurseries within them.”