Nurses warn they lack staff for next month’s extension of free provision that the Conservatives promised.
Ministers are being warned that a major childcare pledge is in serious jeopardy, as concerns about staff shortages, declining care quality, and the fear that some aspects of the plan are undeliverable mount.
Nurseries, preschools, and childminders across the nation have expressed that they are finding it difficult to hire staff to meet demand from parents expecting a local place, just weeks away from a widespread of a local place; part of what the previous government billed as the “largest ever expansion of childcare in England’s history,” they approach the deadline.
According to Bridget Philipson, the education secretary of the previous government, “recklessly rushed out a childcare pledge without a plan to deliver it, leaving working people to pay the price.”
However, Philipson told the media that she was “determined to make sure parents get what was promised to them this year, despite the major challenges that this government faces due to the recklessness and irresponsibility of the Tories.”
Starting in September, working parents with children younger than nine months old can expect to receive 15 hours per week of state-funded childcare.
However, recent industry data reveals that providers struggle to hire new employees, and many are warning that they continue to lose workers.
This has raised concerns that an even more ambitious expansion planned for the next year, doubling the funded hours to 30 hours, can be carried out without sharply lowering standards of care, disproportionately affecting the poorest areas.
As part of a reset plan, industry leaders request urgent negotiations.
With September less than a month away, the childcare expansion is causing immediate anxiety because younger children will need more workers and care. Just a few months ago, the Department for Education internally referred to the scheme as “problematic.”
Before the expansion in September, the survey revealed that 78% of providers had experienced difficulties hiring new workers in the previous year, with over half reporting extremely challenging recruitment.
Eight out of ten said they had noticed an increase in the number of persons leaving the sector compared to two years ago, and more than six out of ten said that staff members had departed the sector totally over the previous six months.
Nearly two out of every five respondents had limited or restricted operating hours in the six months before the survey, and half of the respondents had faced the challenge of limiting or halting talking to new children. Half of the respondents stated that staffing shortages had a negative effect on the standard of care.
The findings came six months following the launch of a large recruitment campaign designed to address the staffing shortages that could deprive families of places, lower the standard of care, or require parents to drive further in search of suitable provisions.
According to 81% of the respondents who have recruited for one or more roles during that time, the number of applications for positions at their place of employment has changed since the campaign’s debut.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “As these findings show, staffing challenges have already pushed many providers to limit both places and hours offered.” “Less than a month before the next phase of the early entitlement expansion, it’s clear just how critical the need to address the sector’s staffing crisis is.
“The reality is that these offers are coming up quickly, so the government has to respond quickly.
“My big fear is the doubling of the offer in September 2025. Frankly, I cannot see that happening in any shape or form unless there is a substantial change. What I ask at this particular point in time is for urgent consultation … This is a chance to reset.”
According to Ellen Broomé, managing director of the Coram Family and Childcare charity, although councils’ confidence in completing the plans by September had lately increased, the percentage of council members who expressed confidence was “still worryingly low.”
Leitch cautioned that the current plan and schedule could leave England with a two-tier system where wealthier families would be expected to bill for adequate childcare and early education. At the same time, the vast expansion of government-funded hours would cause the provision to disappear in deprived areas.
He stated, “As well as representing 14,000 nurseries, we operate 41 not-for-profit settings ourselves, exclusively in areas of deprivation.”
“Five years ago, we operated 132. If we can’t make it pay, I struggle to see how anybody else can. Those operators in areas of deprivation will be the providers who go by the wayside.
“Operators who serve, dare I say, more affluent parents – who can afford, perhaps, to pay what is really required – will be able to offer good early years care and education. We will start to have a significant division in opportunity.”
The association requests that officials declare a set compensation targets for the early years sector to draw in workers and transform childcare from a “babysitting service for parents who work” into something that fosters development and offers quality care.
Philipson stated, “The Tories have left a trail of devastation across education, and it falls again to Labour to fix their mess, including in childcare.
“This government will deliver a sea change in our early years system, building strong foundations for children to achieve and thrive at school, delivering better life chances, and breaking down barriers to opportunity for all our young people.”
