Dawn Bowden MS, Minister for Children and Social Care and Lynne Neagle MS, Cabinet Secretary for Education
Today we are pleased to publish the Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care Plan - Annual Infographic.
At the heart of ECPLC is the child and meeting their development needs. ECPLC recognises childhood is precious and babies and young children play, learn and grow in different ways and to support that development they require care and nurturing. We are committed to breaking down barriers to ensure babies and young children are supported to have fulfilling and happy childhoods.
The infographic highlights the progress made on the actions set out in the ECPLC plan, in respect to quality of provision, access to provision and supporting and developing the childcare, playwork and nursery education workforce, over the last year.
Ensuring equitable access to high quality provision remains a priority. Through Flying Start, we have continued the expansion of funded childcare for two year olds, with two local authorities now completing full rollout. During Phase 2 (2023–24 and 2024–25), more than 13,400 children and families were offered childcare places, with over 10,000 children benefitting by taking up their place.
Families have also been supported through programmes such as Cymraeg for Kids, the Playworks Holiday Project - which enabled over 63,000 children to access play opportunities during the 2025 school holidays - and the publication of our Child Poverty Strategy Progress Report.
We continue to take steps to help reduce inequalities, including publishing research into the lived experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families accessing childcare, and launching the Parent and Carer ALN Toolkit to provide clear guidance on navigating ALN support.
Improving the quality of ECPLC provision is essential to giving every child the best possible start in life. We have funded Children in Wales to deliver Children’s Rights and Early Years training to practitioners, ensuring the principles of the UNCRC are embedded across early years and family focused settings.
We have updated the Healthy Eating in Schools Regulations - which also applies to maintained nursery schools - and revised the NEST framework to fully recognise babies and childcare as key stakeholders within a whole system approach. In addition, we have published key materials to support best practice and strengthen safeguarding, including the ALN Ambassador programme report, the three-year post implementation review of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020, and a suite of Community Focused Schools guidance to support collaborative working across communities.
We remain committed to supporting a valued, thriving and diverse ECPLC workforce, recognising the critical role they play in realising our vision for ECPLC. We have committed over £150 million to sustain and grow the childcare sector and provided local authorities with funding to ensure settings can access mandatory safeguarding and paediatric first aid training, as well as enhanced ALN focused professional development. Our trauma informed approach continues to expand, with comprehensive training now available across all four levels of the Trauma Informed Wales Framework and the launch of ACE Hub Wales’ universal e-learning. Working with partners, we have also advanced the Strategic Education Workforce Plan for schools. We continue to ensure the workforce across early years and education is supported to meet the needs of children, families and communities.
This publication represents the last annual progress infographic for the ECPLC Plan. The continued dedication and commitment of those working across the Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care sectors ensures we continue to make progress and realise our vision for ECPLC.