But their amendment published several months ago, which was only due to be considered by the States this week due to a logjam, will be pulled while they carry out a review of the childcare sector with officers and other colleagues in lieu of official measures.

“We have had more time to engage with the childcare sector including the Guernsey Pre-School Learning Alliance and childminders, as well the States Early Years team," said Deputy Kazantseva-Miller.  

“It became clear very quickly that the industry was facing many challenges that were making it difficult to meet the current childcare demand, never mind being able to grow the capacity and number of spaces available if childcare policies were extended.” 

Pictured: Deputies Kazantseva-Miller and Soulsby.

The issues include skills, housing and funding shortages, she added, saying the pair recognised it would be “premature” to investigate measures before gaining a wider understanding of local challenges.  

They say this is important as the States is currently looking at increasing workforce participation, but without considering childcare capacity and growth. 

A review of the sector will therefore address concerns raised by staff and recommended improvements to the States with respect to increasing employment.  

“We worked closely with officers and colleagues across government to understand what piece of work could better address the concerns we’ve identified through consultation with industry," Deputy Soulsby added.  

“We are very grateful for the positive engagement with various committees, especially Economic Development and are in discussions about being able to progress an industry sector review as part of their mandate on labour and skills supply.”