Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing childcare ratios on levels of childcare staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention.

In the summer, the department will be consulting on moving to the Scottish ratios for two-year-olds, from a ratio of 1:4 (one adult to four children) to 1:5 (one adult to five children). Alongside this, the department is also considering how we can provide greater flexibility within ratios for childminders.

Our priority continues to be to provide safe, high quality early years provision for our youngest children, and throughout this consultation process we will engage fully with the sector and parents and carers on this proposed change.

Responses from this consultation will help to build the evidence base, including on the impact that changing childcare ratios may have on staff recruitment and retention.