Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate the Government has made of the proportion of employers in the childcare sector that would relax staff-to-child ratios in the event that Government guidelines are changed.

The government is consulting on moving to the Scottish ratios for two-year-olds, from a ratio of one-to-four (one adult to four children) to one-to-five (one adult to five children). The government is also considering how we can provide greater flexibility within ratios for childminders.

Alongside this consultation, the department is running a bespoke survey of early years providers to help us understand how the proposed changes to staff to child ratios in early years settings might affect provision, including their intention to adopt any changes. The results of this survey will be published.

Our priority continues to be to provide safe, high quality early years provision for our youngest children. Throughout this consultation process we are engaging fully with the sector and parents and carers.