The Education Committee has today launched an inquiry into the early years sector, looking at issues around the sustainability of its workforce, families’ access to services and the quality of outcomes for young children.
The full terms of reference and details of the Committee’s call for evidence can be read below and on our website.
MPs will look at how the recent expansions of childcare entitlements under the current and previous government have reshaped the sector.
The cross-party Committee will examine the Government’s Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy, announced in July. This included an expansion of ‘Best Start Family Hubs’; £4,500 incentives for early years teachers to work in disadvantaged areas; Ofsted inspections of early years settings every four years; and stronger links between nurseries and schools.
The Committee will look at whether the Government’s new policies will support its aim for 75% of children to achieve a ‘good level of development’ at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage by 2028.
There will also be a focus on how the Government can ensure the sector can be inclusive to families across the country, including areas that have become ‘childcare deserts’, and inclusive to those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The new inquiry also comes after Ofsted published data showing that the number of childminders in England fell by 5% in the year to April 2025, having fallen by 4% in the previous year.
Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP said:
“The early years sector has seen significant reforms in recent years in terms of how services are provided and funded.
“This inquiry will take stock of the recent changes and the outcomes for young children and families, as well as the implications for the wide range of settings delivering early education and childcare.
“We will also question experts and those on the front line about how the Government’s new strategy could deliver improvements and reverse a worrying decline in the number of children starting school before meeting key development milestones.
“Many in the sector have welcomed recent announcements from the Department for Education. The Education Committee will now look at whether the proposals will deliver on its ambitions.”
Terms of reference and call for evidence
The Education Committee now welcomes written evidence submissions from academics and experts in the early years sector that respond to the following terms of reference. Submissions can be made via the Committee’s website by 11.59pm on 10 October 2025.
Workforce capacity and sustainability
- What is the current position with recruitment and retention in the early years workforce? Is it on a positive or negative trajectory?
- What are the key factors causing challenges in recruitment and retention?
- Is there the right balance of qualification and training levels for the early years workforce to provide high-quality care?
- What is the best way to change perceptions of the early years sector and ensure that it is considered to be a highly valued, rewarding profession?
- How do workforce challenges differ between staff in private, voluntary and independent settings, childminders, and maintained nurseries?
- How far will the Government’s Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy address the challenges? Are any other interventions needed?
- How can the current limited opportunities for pay progression be improved?
Access and affordability
- How easy is it for parents to find the right childcare for their children which they can also afford?
- Is affordability of and access to provision more difficult for certain groups of parents or children? What should be done to address this? How can early years settings become more consistently inclusive?
- Why and where are geographical gaps in childcare provision (“childcare deserts”) forming and what can be done to reverse this?
- Do local authorities have the right powers in relation to childcare sufficiency and are they being exercised effectively? Are there sufficient levers to ensure the right mix of provision within a local area?
- What action is needed to address the very sharp drop in the number of registered childminders? What needs to happen to help childminders stay in business?
- Have there been or will there be any unintended consequences of recent government reforms or announcements? For example funding changes, the Plan for Change or Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy.
- What should childcare and early education policy be for parents who wish to stay at home to care for their children? What can be done to ensure the Government aim for these children to attain the Early Learning Goals is also achieved?
- How is any improvement in awareness and parental trust in the childcare subsidy system measured?
Quality and Outcomes
- Has cross government working on early years improved?
- Does early years provision currently provide sufficiently high-quality early education and care?
- Has the focus on expanding free hours for certain groups of parents affected the quality of provision?
- What impact have the staff:child ratio changes had?
- How useful are the current metrics for assessing quality and outcomes?
- What role does Ofsted play in the quality of early years provision? Does it have the right focus in early years? What other aspects of early years provision could it consider?
- What role will the increased number of Stronger Practice Hubs play? Who else will be responsible for rolling out best practice?
- How should provision be joined up across a local area?
- What action is needed to deliver the Government’s target for 75% of five-year-olds to achieve a good level of development by 2028?
- Is there more that could be done to improve quality and the outcomes for children in early years settings which is missing from the Government’s Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy?
