The Government has launched a recruitment drive ahead of its free childcare expansion, but a major early years organisation has warned it will do little to boost staff numbers before rollout.

A national campaign to promote jobs in the childcare workforce was launched by the Department for Education (DfE) today.

It includes a £4.9m pilot scheme in 20 local authorities, through which new starters and returners to the profession will receive a £1,000 sign-on bonus.

The announcement follows concerns about the sector’s capacity to support the mass expansion in parents’ childcare entitlement. Roll-out of the scheme begins in April.

Neil Leitch, the CEO of the Early Years Alliance, England's largest early years membership organisation, described the recruitment campaign as a ‘positive’ but ‘very overdue’ step.

Mr Leitch added: ‘given that we are now less than two months away from the first phase of early entitlement expansion, we’re clear that any suggestion that this campaign alone will be enough to drive up educator numbers in time to meet rising demand is ludicrous’.

He said the £1,000 cash incentive would do little to address long-term retention issues, which are linked to low wages and the lack of clear routes for career progression.

The DfE said its campaign would highlight ‘the vast array of childcare career routes and progression opportunities offering on-the-job training, flexible hours, and, most importantly, the chance to shape and support young lives’.

The CEO and founder of charity Pregnant Then Screwed, Joeli Brearley, said: 'The advertising campaign should help to raise the status of this vital profession and the cash payments should encourage more people to move into the sector.

'However, this is all futile unless more is done to improve the pay and working conditions for all early years professionals.'

The chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, Louise Gittins, described the DfE campaign as a ‘positive step’ towards addressing capacity and workforce issues, adding: ‘councils need to be given the resources and powers to manage local childcare markets’.

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