Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, highlights one of the biggest issues affecting staff the moment, amid all the other challenges the early years sector is facing.

In this opinion article, Neil Leitch, chief executive of Early Years Alliance, shares his throughts on the ongoing rollout of the early entitlement expansion, and what the new government needs to do to make meaningful changes.

In this opinion piece, Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of Early Years Alliance, discusses how the early years workforce must play a central role in 2025 policy priorities.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, argues for the Government to do more to retain and nurture the talented staff already working in settings, and the urgent need for a workforce strategy to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis facing the sector.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, discusses capacity in the early years sector ahead of next year’s expansion in the number of hours of provision becoming available to parents for free, in light of the funding provided and the number of settings already closing across the sector.

2023 has been a year in which early years settings have had to cope with extraordinary amounts of change and development, on top of the wider pressures society is dealing with from the cost of living crisis and the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the year draws to a close, we ask key voices in the early years space what they would like to see in an Early Years Manifesto which would set the direction of the sector from next year; their hopes and aims for the sector, and what they think would help improve the existing crisis.

As we head into the winter months, settings not only have to mitigate the existence of the sector's pre-existing challenges, including sustained and significant sector underfunding, and an ever-worsening recruitment and retention crisis, but also a cost-of-living crisis which continues to push up inflation and heap more pressure on a sector that is already teetering on the edge.

The government must end its obsession with a piecemeal approach to early years policy if the sector is to have any chance of surviving in the long term, Neil Leitch explains

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance outlines why the Alliance will continue to oppose the Government's increase to the minimum staff to child ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds, announced in the March Spring Budget.

To say that the early years sector has had a challenging few years would be an understatement. Neil Leitch discusses how the added strain of even considering the relaxation of ratios will impact the sector.

Neil Leitch looks at the current circumstances of the changes within the UK's Government, as well as looking back at the recent past and what this has meant for the early years sector, and how we can move forward.

The long-awaited Comprehensive Spending Review, originally due in 2020, arrived this autumn, and at long last the early years sector had the chance to formally put our case for increased investment to the Treasury.

When the government announced that it was planning to proceed with Step four of unlocking from 19 July, the reaction from many across the country was one of concern, rather than celebration.

The road to recovery will be a long one but there have been many innovative changes to practice due to the pandemic. Settings will be able to carry these forward to the benefit of children and families in the future.

While the Government has been keen to stress its engagement with the sector, just six per cent of respondents to an Alliance survey felt their role during the pandemic had been adequately valued, says Neil Leitch.

How can the early years sector change and what will that change look like? This question provoked a lively discussion at this years' annual Margaret Horn debate, chaired by June O'Sullivan.

As the sector moves towards a phased reopening, it is imperative that the Government steps in to provide financial support for those who are facing a fall in demand for places – and for those who cannot afford to open at all.

As the Comprehensive Spending Review and the end of the funding freeze loom, 2020 offers new opportunities to ramp up the fight for fair early years funding. What comes after that is ‘up to us’ says Neil Leitch.