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The Early Years Alliance has issued a comment on the announcement of £100m in capital funding for early years and wraparound childcare places, as well as changes to early years qualification rules following the government's response to the recent consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework.

Commenting on the announcement of £100m in capital funding to support an increase in early years and wraparound childcare places across the country, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

"While any support to boost capacity in the sector is of course welcome, the fact is that all the physical space in the world won't achieve anything if we don't have sufficient early years staff to deliver places and meet increased demand from families.

"For years now, the sector has urged the government to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in the early years, calls that have continued to fall on deaf ears. With only a few months to go until the start of the rollout of the extended offer, it's vital that the government ensures that we have the infrastructure in place to deliver the places it has promised to families – but while supporting providers to increase physical capacity is a part of this, it is only a small part. 

"As such, we continue to urge that government to focus its efforts on building and sustaining a strong, stable early years workforce by ensuring fair rates of pay through adequate funding rates, professional respect and recognition, and clear career progression. Anything less, and parents around the country looking forward to access the extended early entitlement offer next year are likely to be left sorely disappointed."

Commenting on confirmed changes to early years qualification rules following the government's response to the EYFS consultation, Neil said:

"While we welcome the fact that some of the most damaging proposals in the consultation have been scrapped, the fact remains that the remaining changes – alongside the recent relaxation of ratios –represent an incredibly concerning direction of travel for early years policy.

"We of course recognise that there is an urgent need to tackle the early years recruitment and retention crisis – but lowering standards as part of a desperate attempt to build capacity in the sector ahead of the roll-out of the extended 30 hours offer, under the guide of 'increasing flexibility, is simply not acceptable.

"We're clear that the needs of the child, and their right to a high-quality early education, must always be the priority."