Backlash to childcare plan

Plans to ease childcare staffing ratios in nurseries in England have drawn an angry response from providers and parents who say their concerns have been ignored.

The government is launching a consultation on ways to reduce childcare costs for parents, most notably by changing staff-to-child ratios so each adult can look after five two-year-olds, instead of four as currently permitted.

It says it could reduce costs by up to 15% or £40 a week for a family paying £265 per week for care, if providers pass on all the savings. However, the figures have been questioned, with the Pregnant Then Screwed charity describing them as “nonsense”.

Purnima Tanuku, the chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said: “Altering ratios for two-yearolds from 1:4 to 1:5 won’t make any meaningful difference to the cost of childcare for providers or parents.”

The education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said the plans “prove again that this government is on the side of working families”.