One year on from the DCSF’s “Next Steps for Early Learning and Childcare”, there has been considerable progress, with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in particular now forming a key part of the landscape.

However there is also much that is fragile. The postponed implementation of the Early Years Single Funding Formula demonstrates how much misunderstanding remains about how this compex sector really operates. The recent turnaround regarding childcare vouchers is to be welcomed – but the slower progress towards free places for two-year-olds is not.

Recruitment onto the latest Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) pathways has been very promising. Yet significant evidence has emerged in the last year of problems with retention, especially in the PVI sector. The case for introducing proper pay arrangments, and clear career paths remains strong, as demonstrated by the several hundred signatories who have signed the petition on the Prime Ministers’ website (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/eyppayscales/).

Fundamentally, the problem remains that early years is chronically underfunded, and remains a cinderella sector. The Daycare Trust research published recently reminds us all of the benefits of graduate leadership, as well as demonstrating the shortfall in funding across the sector. As a society, we are letting down our youngest children.

The evidence is clear: high quality early years education and care not only changes the lives of individual children and families, it also offers a clear return on investment higher than almost any other public expenditure.

At a time of ongoing economic crisis, this is one sector where the government – whatever colour it may be by mid-2010 – must invest far more substantially.