Pressure mounts over changes to childcare ratios

Marg Randles, managing director of nursery chain Busy Bees, said the company will not be changing staff-to-child ratios in its 213 nurseries.

This is despite Busy Bees being cited by the Department for Education (DfE) as an endorser of its plan to allow early years professionals to look after more children as part of its More Great Childcare strategy.

At the launch of More Great Childcare in January, John Woodward, the chief executive of Busy Bees, was quoted by the government as saying that the early years sector would “welcome and embrace more flexibility which could be used as they feel appropriate”.

But early years professionals have largely rejected the proposals.

Today, the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) published the results of a survey that showed only five per cent of early years practitioners backed the plans.

Commenting on the NCB survey, Randles said providers should be able to exercise choice, but added that Busy Bees would not adopt the proposals.

“Providers will make their own choices about how they operate their settings and the response to the NCB survey is a clear indication of what is likely to happen,” she said.

“Busy Bees completely supports the aim to raise the status of childcare professionals and reward them for the great work they do for children.

“We have no plans to move towards changing the ratios and would not do anything that would have a detrimental impact on the quality of care we provide.”

Her comments undermined the DfE’s response to the NCB report, which reiterated the nursery chain's support for the plans.

"This is a self-selecting and unscientific survey from an organisation which has already opposed our reforms,” said a DfE spokesman.

“Providers including Kidsunlimited, Busy Bees and My Family Care have all welcomed the emphasis on quality and flexibility that was outlined in More Great Childcare.

"No childcare provider will be forced to use the new ratios as they are entirely optional. Only providers with well-qualified staff will be able to move to use them.”

NCB surveyed more than 300 childcare practitioners and found that 95 per cent opposed the ratio plan, which would allow a nursery worker to care for up to six two-year-olds at the same time, or four children aged under two.

Eighty per cent of respondents also said that childminders should not be able to care for a greater number of children under the age of five.

The proposals would allow a childminder to look after up to four children aged one to five.

One of the practitioners who took part in the survey said she was concerned that the government's proposals would put children at risk.

“Relaxing child-to-staff ratios will increase the health and safety risk for children, especially in the case of fire evacuation, as one person cannot carry four babies,” the practitioner told the NCB.

“The staff member will be providing basic care needs and will not have the time to provide stimulating individual activities for children, and safeguarding issues may be missed.”

Hilary Emery, chief executive of NCB, said: “In moving forward, ministers need to take account of what providers are saying, and work with the sector in finalising their proposals."

The survey results were published ahead of the closure of the DfE’s consultation on the ratio proposals, which ends on 25 March.

The criticisms followed concerns raised earlier this week by Professor Cathy Nutbrown, who carried out the review that informed the More Great Childcare strategy.

She branded the plans to relax staff-to-child ratios as “nonsense” and said they would undermine efforts to raise the quality of early years services.