Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the trend in the child-to-staff ratio in childcare and early-years settings in England.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. The welfare and safeguarding section in the EYFS sets the required maximum staff to child ratios. Ratio and qualification requirements apply to the total number of staff available to work directly with children. For children aged three and over, staff with a level 6 qualification supported by someone with a level 3 can operate with a 1:13 ratio, whereas staff with a level 3 supported by someone with a level 2 qualification can operate with a 1:8 ratio. There are no plans to change the requirements. We do not measure staff to child ratios, therefore it is not possible to assess trends.