Opinion: To the point - The cost of flexibility

Two things announced last week by the Government make an unfortunate basis for renewed fear in the nursery sector - the proposed increase in the availability of flexi-time working, and the desire to continue the expansion of free pre-school care.

I have not come across one person in our sector that is against either idea, in principle. It would be strange for us to deny broader access to our provision to those who might otherwise not be able to afford it; further, as a sector totally reliant upon its workforce, the need to consider work-life balance is obviously very important.

The problem we have is not the principle, but the implementation. The Government has raised expectations in the way this piece of legislation has been heralded, but left it to each of us in the nursery sector to explain to employees that our business makes accommodating such a policy highly unlikely, especially at senior levels. The Government seems to have forgotten two main factors: that childcare is highly regulated, with much regulation focused on the exact number of staff in each room at any given time; and that the availability of qualified staff is now at an all-time low.