With guidance on the fund due next week, chief executive of 4Children, Anne Longfield, stressed the need to use it for local strategies that give the private and voluntary sectors training opportunities.
She said, 'Despite the targets for children's centres, 75 per cent of childcare will continue to be delivered outside the public sector.
Currently this sector has the least access to training and qualifications, the lowest level of qualifications and the lowest pay. The Fund must be strategically managed to ensure it gains access to integrated qualifications.'
The need to fund the existing workforce was underlined by Micheal Freeston, director of training and quality assurance at the Pre-School Learning Alliance. He said, 'We need to address the fact that the majority of the workforce is over the age of 25 and cannot currently gain Skills Council funding. We also need to look at the issue of pay and look forward to the CWDC reporting on pay in the autumn.'
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