Nursery World reported last month that the petition, which was started by Lewis and Zoe Steeper, whose child Oliver sadly passed away after a medical emergency at nursery a year ago, had received 100,000 signatures, meaning it must be considered for debate by MPs.
Announcing the news that the petition will now be debated in Parliament, the Steeper Foundation tweeted, ‘We’ve done it! We have secured a debate on ratios!
‘Monday 14th November, time TBC.
‘You have done Oliver proud, every single one of you, thank you.’
The petition urges the Government to consider other ways to reduce childcare costs rather than change the number of staff that can care for children in early years settings, which the Steepers warn could ‘endanger children in trusted care.’
It is in response to a consultation on regulatory changes to childcare, including reducing the number of staff to children in early years settings, which was launched under Boris Johnson’s Government – two Prime Ministers ago.
Lewis Steeper told Nursery World, 'We are so pleased that the petition has now been selected for a debate in Parliament. When we started the petition we had no idea how seriously it would be taken by the public. The fact is has reached over 106,000 signatures is testament to how badly this idea is thought of by the sector and the public across the whole United Kingdom.
'Our attention now turns to gaining support from MPs to attend the debate. We would encourage anyone who feels able to, to contact their MP and ask them to attend. This issue is of national importance and detrimental to the safety of children in all early years settings. We also hope to be there in person to witness the debate.
'Our personal thanks go out to everyone who has signed the petition, shared and supported it and continues to do so.'
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘It’s clear that the relaxation of ratios is a vital topic, close to the hearts of families and the early years sector alike. It is high time that it is given an opportunity to be discussed and debated in full.
‘Our own research clearly shows it will not lower the cost of early years care and education and will instead sacrifice the quality and safety of the care and education children receive, but it seems this message is yet to filter through to Government.
‘As such, we hope that the time given to the debate will wake MPs and policymakers up to the reality that any relaxation of ratios will be a damaging, backwards and devastating step for England’s early years sector.’
