Parents are "surprised and horrified" by ratios proposals

Sarah Steel, managing director of The Old Station chain of nurseries, said parents who attended its "drop-in picnics", held last week to mark International Children’s Day, were “surprised” and “horrified” by the proposals.

Campaigners against higher child-to-staff ratios say that allowing providers to look after more children will lead to a decline in the quality of care they can provide.

Steel said the sessions, held at three of The Old Station nurseries, showed many parents were unaware of the proposals, which the government would like to introduce as early as September depending on the results of a consultation.

Steel said: “This seems amazing given the coverage, but it just goes to show that most parents just turn up to use a nursery, love the service they get and then go home.”

“At our Newark nursery we asked them to sign the petition against changing ratios and most of them were really surprised – and horrified – that the government saw fit to tinker with what was currently working so well in their eyes.

“They unanimously didn’t want to see less staff caring for children,” she added.

One mother of a child aged under one told Steel she would remove her child from the nursery if staff were allowed to care for four children under one, rather than the current limit of three. Steel’s nursery chain is holding more picnics in London settings today.

June O’Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation, said early years providers need to “highlight these issues and make our voices heard”.

“Early years staff are unwilling to remain downtrodden and ignored when we contribute significantly to supporting the national economy and to the wellbeing of children,” she said.

The Department for Education’s final decision on ratios has been delayed by mass objection to the proposals from the sector, and an intervention from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who said last month that he did not back the childcare reforms.