Hundreds back campaign against relaxation of childcare ratios
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Hundreds of early years staff, teachers and academics have signed an open letter urging the Prime Minister not to press ahead with rumoured plans to relax childcare staffing ratios.
The letter, written by chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) June O’Sullivan, says it is “crucial for the government not to relax the nursery ratios of staff to children”.
Research papers indicate the “significance of high staff-to-children ratios to the quality of provision”.
High quality early years provision is particularly crucial to the success of “those from more disadvantaged backgrounds”, O’Sullivan adds.
She warns that relaxing ratios could lead to staff having less time to spend with children and put more pressure on staff “who are quitting the sector in droves because of lack of respect for what they do, low status, poor salaries and lack of support”.
The letter, which has been signed by more than 1,000 people, including nursery leaders, childcare practitioners and academics, comes after children’s minister Will Quince confirmed government plans to examine childcare regulations, including looking at staff-to-child ratios, in England.
Speaking in a video posted on Twitter, Quince said he would be visiting the Netherlands, France and Scotland to compare the regulation of early years providers to regulation seen in England.
The safety and quality of early years childcare is of paramount importance to me and @educationgovuk. I am looking at how to improve the cost and availability so that parents and taxpayers are getting the best value for money. Here I explain more 👇 pic.twitter.com/92fHzu9Fbd
— Will Quince MP 🇬🇧 (@willquince) April 27, 2022
This aims to ensure “that both for the taxpayer and for childcare users they’re receiving really good value for money”, he said, adding that “what I’m not going to do is compromise the quality or safety of early years settings up and down the country.
“But it’s absolutely right that we look at some of our international comparators to see how they do it differently.”
Plans put forward in 2013, by then childcare minister Liz Truss, to reduce ratios were scrapped following a backlash from the sector.
The Department for Education previously said any changes to childcare regulation, including the relaxation of ratios, would be subject to a public consultation.
The DfE has been contacted for further comment.
