Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2022 to Question 25945 on Children: Day Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing childcare ratios on levels of childcare staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention.

On 4 July 2022, the government published its consultation 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 running a bespoke survey of providers to help us understand how the proposed changes to staff to child ratios in early years settings might affect provision, including staff recruitment and retention. The results of this survey will be published.

This survey and responses to the consultation will inform final policy decisions and the government’s response to the consultation in the autumn, in which final policy decisions will be set out.

The department is committed to providing safe, high-quality early years provision for children. Throughout this consultation process, the department will engage fully with the sector and parents and carers.