Childcare professionals rally parents to reject ratios plan

Childcare minister Elizabeth Truss believes relaxing ratios will result in higher revenue for providers, which will lead to better salaries for early years workers and reduce childcare costs for parents.

But a childminder-led, online petition is calling on the government to drop its plans, over fears that the plans could jeopardise children's wellbeing and development. It has been signed by more than 20,300 people.

Now a letter to parents from Childcare Consultancy director Laura Henry has attracted more than 5,000 visits in less than a week. Henry said the letter had also been distributed to parents by a number of early years practitioners and promoted on the three-million-strong online parenting community Mumsnet.

June O’Sullivan, director of the London Early Years Foundation, argued that the most likely way of convincing government to reconsider its plans would be to “get parents on board”.

She added that she had spent the week following the announcement of the plans answering questions from “confused” parents, who were alarmed by the proposals.

In 2003, opposition from parents and childcare organisations forced the government to revoke regulations introduced in 2000 that allowed childminders to smack children. 

Meanwhile, calculations by a chain of early years settings seen by CYP Now, suggest that the economic benefits of the plans would be marginal. The provider, who wished to remain anonymous, said the new system would only generate an extra £3 each week for every additional two- or three-year-old its nurseries would be able to care for.

Denise Burke, director of United for All Ages and the Good Care Guide, said parents “are frustrated” because the government's childcare plans will do little to ease the burden of paying for care.

“It’s hardly going to make vast amounts of money for the childcare provider, and certainly not the kind of money that Truss was leading people to believe would either go to pay decent salaries or reduce costs for parents,” she said.

The ratio changes are the subject of a government consultation, but Burke said she feared the consultation would not be “meaningful”. “Parents won’t respond to a consultation, so you need to gather momentum with them,” she said.

In nurseries, a worker can currently care for a maximum of three babies aged one-year and younger. The new ratios would allow for four. Similarly, workers caring for children aged from two- to three-years-old can mind four at a time. The revised ratios would allow them to care for six.
 
Currently a childminder can look after one baby aged under one-year, but the proposals would see them allowed to care for two at the same time. At the moment, a childminder can care for three children aged from one- to six-years-old. The suggested limit change for this age group would allow each to care for four.