Chancellor reported to be planning childcare reforms and ratio changes

The chancellor is said to be going ahead with the controversial plan to increase the number of children staff can care for in nurseries from four to five, according to The Sunday Times.

The plan was said to have been dumped by the Prime Minister in January, a move which had been overwhelmingly welcomed by parent campaigners and the wider sector – although this was never officially confirmed by the Government.

According to the paper, ‘To address concerns that the sector is understaffed and underfunded, Hunt is considering a big rise in the subsidy childcare providers receive from the government to cover free childcare to which parents are entitled. It is understood the payments will increase by hundreds of millions of pounds.’

He is also said to be considering a ‘sign-up bonus of several hundred pounds’ to encourage more people to work in childcare.

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Lewis and Zoe Steeper, who have been campaigning against the ratio plans, following the death of their son Oliver in nursery, said they were ‘absolutely dismayed’ about the reports.

In January, The Times reported that Rishi Sunak had shelved plans to increase ratios following the Steepers’ petition, which was debated in Parliament in November.

Asked for a comment at the time, a Department for Education spokesperson said, ‘We continue to review all options to improve the cost, choice and availability of high-quality childcare for working parents, which remains a priority for this Government.'

‘The debate found there was no clear evidence that any savings would be gained by the relaxation of ratios and it would only put a child at a greater risk then they are currently,’ Steeper said. ‘It would have a mental strain to staff working within settings who are already underpaid and far overworked. 

‘The government's own research found that it would impact the development and education of a child if ratios were relaxed so I cannot understand why this would be something they are so keen to press ahead with.

‘Following the death of our own beloved son Oliver in a nursery setting where we believe ratios were ignored, we are so strongly opposed to the changes as no other set of parents deserve to go through the hell we have been through and the fight we now have with the Department for Education and the Government to stop these preposterous changes being made.

‘We have spoken to hundreds of settings over the past year and not a single one of them has said that any savings would be passed the parents as their own costs would increase due to the added risk of an extra child being included within ratios.’

Responding to reports, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said that ‘the devil, as always is in the detail’, adding, ‘All the funding in the world cannot save the sector if we do not have enough early years professionals to deliver places. If the reports that the government is also to proceed with plans to relax ratios is true, we are likely to see more and more early educators leaving the sector in their droves, resulting in a sharp drop in available places and, in the worst cases, further setting closures, with little to no impact on costs for parents. 

‘Such a move would demonstrate a complete disregard for our vital sector and the quality care and education that our workforce strives to provide to children and their families, and we urge any ministers thinking of pushing ahead with such a disastrous policy to think again.’

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, 'Yet again this demonstrates that the Government is tinkering at the edges when it comes to addressing the challenges of early education. We haven’t even seen the response from the consultation which we know will be overwhelmingly in opposition to this plan. We have said time and time again this does not save money for parents or solve the current crisis the sector is in.

'Our nurseries are seeing higher numbers of children in nursery with communication and social difficulties who need more support rather than less.

'We know following feedback from our nursery members that most will not implement the ratio changes and it would not lead to cheaper childcare for parents anyway. Parents do not want their children to have fewer adults with them and query the quality of their provision and their safety.

'The Government must invest sufficiently in early years education and care, which pays for itself in the long run through parents joining the workforce and children needing less support in their school education.'

Universal credit uplift

Hunt is also said to be raising the sum that parents on universal credit can claim for childcare, from £646 a month for a single child to £950, and from £1,108 for two children to £1,630. It has been frozen since 2006.

Hunt is also understood to be looking again at plans put forward by the Department for Education to extend the 30-hour childcare for three-and four-years olds to younger children.