This one day online conference will examine next steps for childcare and early years provision in England.

It takes place following:
• the rollout of additional free childcare hours for working parents of two year-olds
• increased government funding for local authorities and early years providers from April 2024
• the Do Something Big childcare workforce recruitment campaign introduced earlier this year, as well as the DfE’s public consultation on improving childminder recruitment and retention.

This conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders and policymakers to assess delivery of the extended childcare support scheme, which is being phased in over the next year and a half in three waves, looking at childcare providers’ capacity to meet the increase in demand and the impact of the ratio increase in the number of children looked after by staff in early years settings.

There will be discussion on key findings from the National Audit Office’s report on DfE preparations to extend childcare entitlements, which found that DfE had decided to move forward without running tests on the market, and recommended that they continuously review the expansion due to concerns over place numbers and staffing.

It also takes place as the Labour Party conduct an Early Years Review looking at the expansion of early entitlement offers, potential reform to the early years workforce and how to address concerns surrounding the availability of childcare places.

Sessions in the agenda will examine the quality of childcare provision, including through wraparound childcare support, with discussion on the way forward for teaching standards and specialist training to support SEND and disadvantaged children in the early years.

Delegates will also assess priorities for meeting current and future childcare workforce demands, including the impact of the Do Something Big campaign, with a focus on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, supporting staff, and training and CPD opportunities following concerns from NAO that quality could be undermined with large numbers of new staff entering the workforce.

There will also be discussion on the ways in which business can support the sector, with NatWest Group extending its lending target for the childcare sector to £100m as part of recent recommendations from the Business Taskforce for Early Childhood launched by the Princess of Wales.

Further sessions will discuss long-term sustainable funding and investment models, and how these can be adapted to a changing economic landscape and used to address gaps in childcare support. Delegates will also consider how wider barriers faced by parents and carers in accessing childcare support can be tackled going forward.

We are also pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with: Emma Wilson, Director, Education Value for Money Team, National Audit Office; and Neil Leitch, Chief Executive, Early Years Alliance.

The conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who are due to attend from DfE; IfATE; Ofsted; DHSC; and the Welsh Government.