Stop Childcare Ratios Increasing!

[GPLady]

I wonder if maybe people wouldn't mind sharing and signing this petition at all?

We lost out little man, Oliver Steeper, at 9 months old after a choking incident at his nursery.

A few days ago Boris Johnson proposed that a way to cut the cost of living would be to increase the number of children an adult is responsible for in early years settings. This cannot happen...there's other ways to decrease the cost of childcare, and to lump our childrens' safety in with a proposal to reduce MOT requirements is utterly shocking.

We need it to get to 100k signatures for the Government to consider it for debate. Please, if you feel able, sign and share.

Thank you so much everyone xxx

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/615623

I'd really hoped this was a flippant comment from Boris, not something they were seriously considering.

I got the email about the consultation which suggested there was no difference in safety between Scottish settings with 1 to 5 (2-3 age group) and English settings with 1 to 4 (2-3 age group).

While logically that doesn't make sense, and safety is, of course, an absolute priority in childcare settings, increasing the number of children per staff member will also impact so much more than just safety - the time staff have for personalised care and child-led activity, 1-2-1 time with key workers, the range of activities they can offer etc etc.

It can only be detrimental, and realistically the cost reduction will be minimal - staff costs are just one element of nursery fees, and any savings would be spread between families.

All a change like this will do is enable the government to say 'look, we did something!'.

I will be responding robustly to the consultation to disagree with this proposed ratio change and will be encouraging everyone I know to do the same.

My jaw dropped when I read the email about the consultation. First, it implies that it's a done deal. And sadly there seems to be another dangerous relaxation added which hasn't been flagged up. The emails said that at least one member of staff with a Paediatric First Aid qualification must be available on the premises at all times. I believe that all nursery staff need to have a PFA qualification at the moment,

Posted too soon, my phone is going haywire.

And this was brought in after another child tragically choked at a nursery and staff hadn't known how to help.

I am so sorry, OP. When the consultation is out I will make sure to share it and get friends to comment.

@DriveInSaturday unfortunately legally it is only one person that needs to be on the premises with a PFA qual, although post 2016 anyone qualifying with a Level 2 or 3 in childcare needs one to be included in staff ratios (not to simply work in the nursery).

Anyone qualified pre 2016 does not need a PFA qual to be included in the ratios.

So theoretically you could have a nursery staffed by 9 adults who qualified pre 2016 without a PFA, and 1 person who qualified with a L2 or L3 with the sole PFA in the building 😡

It's another loophole we will campaigning to close xxx

I’d assumed that all staff would have first aid training. That’s terrible.

Just read this in an interview with journalists, on the Guardian website now. I can't believe how clueless he is about the sector - ratios are not the reasons it's expensive. I am so angry!

"Why should the cost of transport be inflated by outdated practices that have nothing to do with safety?
Why should the cost of childcare be pushed up by unnecessary rules on child-minding?
Why should the cost of energy be pushed by everything from the life cycles of the crustacea that may form on the legs of offshore windmills to the system that enables all electricity producers to charge the top marginal rate?"

Sorry that is Boris Johnson I should have mentioned