The expansion of government-funded early years places currently underway across England is at risk of not delivering for poorer families, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Save the Children.

Improving outcomes in the early years is a key part of the government’s long-term plan to deliver change, the prime minister announced today in a speech.

Focusing on disadvantaged and vulnerable children at the earliest stage in life is a key priority for Ofsted, the inspectorate announced today in its annual report.

Tackling food poverty in the early years should be a priority of the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce, a new report by the education thinktank Education Policy Institute (EPI) has argued.

The number of early years providers in England has fallen by over 1,000 over the past year, new data released by Ofsted has revealed.

Plans to utilise spare capacity in primary schools across England to deliver the spaces required for the ongoing early entitlement expansion is “unlikely to work”, a report produced by consultancy Frontier Economics has stated.

Increasing the volume of early years roles that are part-time or include flexible working options would aid the recruitment of educators in the sector, a study by social enterprise Timewise has found.

The temporary business rate relief announced in 2019 has now been made permanent by the Welsh Government.

Parents are set to face rising early years costs and setting closures as the early years sector grapples with the impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and minimum wages, a new Early Years Alliance survey of just over 1,000 early years providers has warned.

A 10% rise in early years costs could lead to parents needing to leave the workforce, according to Pregnant Then Screwed survey results.

National living wage and minimum wage will both undergo significant increases, Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves announced at today’s Autumn Budget.

Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves confirms steps to protect early years priorities as part of the Labour Party’s first Budget since being elected to government.