Quarter of early years staff short on references

A greater number of early years services are in compliance with regulations, but a report published today also shows more than a quarter of providers have staff without two valid references.

The 2016 annual report for the Early Years Inspectorate shows 78% of providers of early years services were compliant with regulations — up six percentage points compared with the 2015 figure — while 22% of providers were deemed non-compliant.

The report shows the inspectorate carried out 2,008 inspections of early years services in 2016, of which 36 were new services. An analysis of 288 inspection reports was used to gauge the level of compliance, involving preschools, playgroups, nurseries, crèches, day-care and similar services which cater for children aged up to six years.