The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, whichlooked at childcare policies in 20 countries, found that, in the UK,"there are too few appropriately trained staff".
The report, Starting Strong II, added that, when coupled with high staffturnover, 40 per cent annually in some cases, this lack of training ishaving a detrimental effect on the quality of care.
A National Childminding Association spokeswoman said it was vital thattraining was properly funded and welcomed further comments in the reportrecognising that local authorities were working to address this.
As well as staff training the report also said UK parents were losingout, claiming affordability of childcare was still a "barrier" forlow-income families and too often families had to "navigate a maze" ofproviders to get the services they needed. However, the report does addthat the emergence of children's centres should help address this.
- www.oecd.org.
