Children and families minister to look at regulation of childcare sector with visit to France

Will Quince, the minister for children and families, revealed this morning that the DfE is going to look at how the sector is regulated, which will include visiting other countries, including France, to see how they do 'things differently'.

Speaking to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning in response to a question from presenter Nick Robinson about whether the Government will deregulate childcare, as some people in the Conservative party think regulations are ‘too tight’, Quince confirmed regulation is something they are going to look at.

He said, ‘I’m not going to apologise for having world class settings. I am going to look at regulation and in part that’s because I need to see what is happening abroad, flying over to Sweden and France and the Netherlands and see how they do it differently.’

It comes a decade after the then minister for education and childcare Liz Truss made a number of visits to France to witness how childcare settings in the country were able to operate with much lower staff to child ratios than in England.

Quince's comments followed a discussion on the ‘rising cost’ of childcare with Jo Morris, owner of Footsteps Day Nursery in Swindon, and the National Day Nurseries Association’s chief executive Purnima Tanuku.

Responding to the minister’s comments, Tanuku said, ‘In my interview on Radio 4’s Today programme I explained the main reason why childcare in the UK was so expensive. The Government as the sector’s biggest customer does not pay the going rate for its funded childcare and therefore fee-paying parents are left footing the bill. 

‘It was great to hear the children and families minister, Will Quince, recognise the high quality of the early education and childcare. This is what gives our youngest children the best start in life and sets them up for a life of learning.

‘But the minister did not mention the shortfall that 95 per cent of our nurseries and pre-schools experience and that 85 per cent expect to make a loss or break even this year.

‘He said he would look at de-regulation but this is not the solution. There must be a fundamental review of the childcare funding system, which is not fit for purpose. Funded childcare is a flagship policy for the Government but without the proper resources we will continue to see providers, parents and our talented workforce paying the price.

‘All costs are going up for nurseries and those in England will also be hit with a huge business rates bill. Despite the fact that childcare providers are still seeing the impact of Covid-19, there was no discount for their businesses in the Spring Statement.’