The national committee, set up by children's services union Aspect, will lobby for clear pay structures, equal parity with qualified teachers and professional development for EYPS staff.

Helen Willis, the regional officer at the union who is leading the committee, said: "EYPS workers are a pretty new professional group and, given that the government wants one in every early years setting by 2015, it is important they pull together and have a voice and a say on what the future looks like."

The committee, which will meet next month to establish its formal structures, will enable EYPS to share best practice as well as achieve recognition from other children's service professions, she added.

John Chowcat, general secretary of Aspect, added: "EYPS is meant to be the equivalent to qualified teacher status, which is linked to a clear pay structure, but EYPS has not got a pay structure at all."