Early years research programme seeks settings to join panel

AEY, for which Nursery World is the media partner, is looking for 3,000 private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nurseries and 1,000 childminders to join the panel and will be mailing and phoning settings in the next few weeks.

Panel members will be sent an online survey three times a year, the data from which will feed into a large-scale analysis of key sector trends to help providers plan for the future and inform national policy direction.

Members will receive confidential analysis of their own results and anonymous comparison with similar settings. Research bulletins and an annual report of key findings will be published free of charge for the sector. Analysis will include:

• Pay rates in the sector and wider labour market
• Fee levels and pricing structures
• Current and forecast hourly delivery costs
• Spring, summer and autumn occupancy
• Staff vacancies and recruitment
• Training and development priorities

AEY is also looking for further sponsors. Pre-school Learning Alliance is the founding sponsor; London Early Years Foundation is lead sponsor for the Quality and Capacity research theme; technology sponsor is Connect Childcare; and other sponsors include Childbase Partnership, NEyTCO and Fundamentally Children.

Virginia Mead-Herbert, managing director of Childbase, said, 'Given the continuing uncertainty, complexity and volatility of the business environment within the early years sector, providers cannot afford to operate in a vacuum. We need timely information and analysis to inform decision-aking if we are to meet the challenges individually and collectively.'

June O'Sullivan, chief executive of LEYF, said, 'We need access to information that comes directly from the sector. This better guarantees data that is neither filtered nor manipulated and is up to date. To make our independent sector-led approach work, we need as many people as possible to sign up and share their knowledge.'

For more information about AEY, panel membership and sponsorship, go to www.aboutearlyyears.co.uk, email aboutearlyyears@ceeda.co.uk tel 0845 680 0631 or follow @ceeda_uk on Twitter.