Nursery World - Analysis: Safeguard budgets, say trainers

The funding crisis at the Learning and Skills Council is causing outrage as settings try to protect staff training levels, says Mary Evans.

Cuts in funding for childcare courses and apprenticeships have provoked a sharp backlash from leading training providers who are complaining about confusion over next year's allocations and calling for the sector's training budget to be safeguarded.

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which administers funding for training and further education, has put a freeze on new training places under Train to Gain and 25+ Apprenticeships in a bid to get its budget under control in the face of a severe overspend.

While the LSC funding crisis is impacting on training by colleges and providers across the board, childcare and playwork trainers feel particularly aggrieved that their activities are being threatened at the very time when the Government has been urging them to increase places.

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