Concern over Kwarteng's pledge to ‘move forward’ with controversial childcare reforms
Fiona Simpson
Friday, September 23, 2022
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng has announced plans to “bring forward reforms to improve access to affordable, flexible childcare”, in his first mini budget, sparking concern among the early years sector.
The budget, which includes cuts to income tax and changes to Universal Credit thresholds for those in part-time work as well as a reiteration of plans to cap energy rates for businesses, gives no further details on which reforms are set to be pushed forward, how or when the changes will be implemented.
The announcement has prompted concern among early years leaders that it relates to proposed changes to childcare regulation including relaxing child: staff ratios for two-year-olds in line with the system used in Scotland.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said it is “incredibly concerning that the government is already suggesting that it will go ahead with its relaxation plans” just weeks after a consultation on them closed.
“The government has sold this policy as a remedy to the cost-of-living crisis, when in reality, it will do absolutely nothing to cut costs for parents.
“Instead, this ridiculous plan risks compromising the quality of education and care that children receive at a time when they need more individual care and attention than ever, not to mention putting their basic safety and wellbeing in jeopardy,” Leitch said.
He described changes to regulation as “the worst possible step the government could take at the worst possible time for the early years sector”.
“We know – and the government knows - that the only way to address rising costs is to properly fund the sector, but instead ministers see fit to waste time on a policy that doesn’t benefit anyone except the politicians who can claim to be ‘tackling rising childcare costs’.
"We urge the government to rethink this foolish direction of travel before the impact on our vital sector becomes not only catastrophic, but irreversible,” Leitch added.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said that while “there will be some elements of today’s announcement that will help the early years sector including cancelling the unfunded increase in national insurance contributions and the confirmation of energy bills relief for businesses, childcare providers face a number of ongoing crises that are not addressed”.
She added: “Current proposals of tinkering with ratios will not achieve the unrealistic savings the government has promised to parents and will heap more pressure on a stretched workforce. Our sector is facing a workforce crisis and without the right staff nurseries cannot provide the high-quality early education and care that is vital for their development.”
The Department for Education said it will “set out more detail on childcare plans in due course”.
