Reports yesterday from a Cabinet meeting suggested that the prime minister wants to relax staff to child ratios in nurseries to help cut childcare costs for parents, and tackle the cost of living crisis.
The BBC reported that the proposal came directly from the prime minister, with sources saying he wanted to lower the legal limits on adult supervision for children in England, as part of a drive to reduce living costs.
A source in the meeting said Mr Johnson had joked about knowing about the high cost of childcare - he has fathered at least seven children - before telling ministers the Government had to get on with reducing costs.
The regulations for staff to child ratios set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England state there must be at least one member of staff for every three children aged two years and under.
For two-year-olds and over, there must be one member of staff for every four children.
Both the National Day Nurseries Association and the Early Years Alliance have slammed the plans.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the NDNA said, 'The prime minister suggesting that the best way to help families with childcare costs is to tinker with ratios is short-sighted and will not achieve the desired outcome. It shows a lack of understanding of how the early years sector works in this country.
'We risk putting additional pressure on an overworked workforce while undermining efforts to give children the best start in life.
'We want to see a Government committed to levelling-up opportunities for all children by investing in their early years where we know it makes the biggest impact for their life chances. Instead we seem to be talking about a race to the bottom that won’t help children or families but will worsen the workforce crisis we have in early years.'
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, 'It is absolutely ludicrous to suggest that the relaxation of ratios is any kind of solution to the current cost of living crisis.
'Such a change would be a catastrophic and retrograde step for the early years sector, and it is all the more galling that this suggestion from the Prime Minister came on the very same day that Ofsted has warned of the damaging impact the pandemic has had on young children's learning and development. Now more than ever, many children attending early years settings need far greater individual care and attention. Relaxing ratios will achieve the exact opposite.
'What’s more, such a policy would do little, if anything, to lower costs for parents. We know that the vast majority providers plan to keep their ratios as they are, regardless of any regulation changes, in order to maintain quality levels - and even if a minority did relax their ratios, any savings would be used to recoup years of historic losses, not lower fees.
'By looking at ratios as a solution to rising early years costs, the Government has missed the mark and entirely misunderstood what is driving these increases. What we need isn’t deregulated, cheap childcare, but investment in affordable, quality early education. As such, we urge the prime minister to rethink this misguided approach.'
June O’Sullivan, CEO of the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), which operates 39 nurseries, said, ‘If reports are to be believed that Boris Johnson wants to relax the rules on the number of children nurseries can accept, this would be an absolute insult to children, parents and the sector which is already struggling to survive.
‘Increasing the adult to child ratios will, without doubt, significantly reduce the time available for staff to spend with each child. This is particularly important for the youngest children, our little babies and two-year-olds whose welfare and development are closely linked to social interaction and forming secure attachment relationships with adults.
'Our new minister, Will Quince must now get to grips with why thoughtful ratios are critical for the wellbeing of children and the ability of staff to really support their learning and development. Cutting corners and potentially endangering our children should not and cannot be an option.’
The Department for Education said ministers have been clear they are looking across Government at all options to support parents with the availability, choice and cost of childcare.
Health and safety as well as quality of provision would continue to be of paramount importance, and the plans were not about ‘cutting corners’, but supporting working parents and the sector in its provision, the DfE said.
The department said any significant changes to regulations would require consultation.
A Government spokesperson said, ‘The education secretary has been clear that supporting families with access to childcare and early education is a priority for him. We are working with colleagues all over Government to look for ways to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare places.’