Government plans to increase staff-to-child ratios at day care providers are ‘bunk and completely miss the point’ says Councillor Leanne Munroe, Deputy Cabinet Member for Children and Young People who leads on Early Years for Oldham Council.

The government is consulting on plans to cut childcare costs for parent including by increasing from 4 to 5 the number of 2 year olds one staff member can look after. It claims this could reduce costs by up to 15% or £40 a week for a family paying £265 a week for care. Campaigning charity Pregnant then Screwed said this is ‘nonsense’. The Early Years Alliance found that government funding does not meet the actual costs of providing child care: a recent survey found many childcare providers are struggling to stay afloat. 86% of providers delivering funded three and four-year-old places stated that the funding they receive is less than the cost of delivering places and of those providers who are increasing their fees, 35% stated they wouldn’t have put their fees up if government funding covered the cost of delivering places.

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) also said ‘Altering ratios for two-year-olds won’t make any meaningful difference to the cost of childcare for providers or parents’

Councillor Munroe added ‘The basic problem is that childcare is not properly funded and the money the government pays for each child receiving a free place does not cover the costs to the nursery. Any gains from increasing ratios will be swallowed up as nurseries struggle to cover increased costs and pay their staff a decent wage. I am also concerned that for the first time in decades, the number of women not returning to work after having a baby is rising. As a working mother I know that one reason for this is the high cost of childcare which has gone up from an average of £236 a week in 2018, to £274 in 2022 for a 2 year old in full time day care. Many women just can’t afford this. The Government needs to look at the way the whole system works and instead of making the job of providing early education harder, it needs to prioritise giving all our children the best early education at a price parents can afford. Parents shouldn’t have to choose between childcare and working fewer hours or not working at all’

Oldham Council agreed to respond to the proposed changes by calling for fair funding for Oldham’s child care providers and rejecting the suggestion to change ratios for two year olds.

The Government consultation is open until the 16^th September 2022 and anyone with an interest in early years can respond including parents and carers: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childcare-regulatory-changes