Nursery World - Cary Rankin: ‘Computer says no’ – rebuilding the trust and co-operation between regulatory bodies and early years providers

The chief executive of nursery group Thrive Childcare and Education says that regulators need to do more to support early years providers and be consistent in their approach.

Amid struggles with rising costs, workforce shortages, and balancing profitability with providing quality care and education for children, there are rising concerns among us and other nursery operators that certain stakeholders are putting their own interests ahead of working together, which is almost certainly leading to increasing division.

During a recent meeting with a local authority, we were were met with quite a hostile reception. It was very much a one-way dialogue, far from a supportive or collaborative conversation and there was an unwillingness to find a workable and agreeable solution to operational challenges, all brought about by workforce challenges. Rather than seek to understand the difficulties, responses from opposite the virtual table were either ‘Computer says no’ or adopting a ‘Tell and do’ stance, by setting their own expectations, ignoring the context of how and why we are in this situation. This was accompanied by an inability or lack of desire to listen, and more worryingly a complete absence of empathy.

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