Bereaved parents’ childcare petition to be debated by MPs

The parents of a boy who died after choking on food at his nursery are calling on the government not to increase the number of children that staff are allowed to look after.

Zoe and Lewis Steeper’s petition on the issue will be debated by MPs on Monday, after it passed 100,000 signatures.

Ministers are considering increasing how many two-year-olds a staff member in England can supervise at any time.

The aim is to reduce costs for parents and give nurseries more flexibility.

The government is expected to set out its response to a consultation on the proposals, which ran between July and September, soon.

It asked the public and people working in the sector whether they thought the current minimum staff-to-child ratios for two-year-olds in England should be changed from 1:4 to 1:5, as is the case in Scotland.

The idea was raised under Boris Johnson’s government earlier this year to help tackle the rising cost of living.

The reports emerged just months after the death of Oliver Steeper, who died in hospital in September last year, after he choked on food at his nursery in Ashford, Kent.

“After losing Oliver in a childcare setting, when this came about, we just thought we can’t allow another set of parents to go through what we’re living,” Lewis told the BBC.

The family cannot comment on the specifics of Oliver’s case as a police investigation is ongoing.

However, they decided to launch their petition because they were concerned that increasing the number of toddlers staff can look after could put children at risk.

“It’s not physically possible to keep as good an eye on five children as it is on four,” Zoe said.

“To have more children under your care, knowing that they are literally the most precious thing that a parent can give to you, I can’t imagine that sense of responsibility.”

The parents also argue that changing ratios would add to the pressure on staff.

“They’re already overstretched, underpaid, and overworked as it is,” Lewis said.

The Steepers said they had mixed emotions when the petition passed 100,000 signatures as it happened on the first anniversary of Oliver’s death.

“We both let out this scream of joy that it may now be selected for a debate,” Lewis said.

“To get that on that day was so poignant. We both had a little cry afterwards.”

The Early Years Alliance, which represents the sector in England, is supporting the petition.

Chief executive Neil Leitch said changing ratios was not in the best interests of children or staff and now would be “the worst possible time” to do so.

He said the sector was in “a recruitment and retention crisis” and increasing the workload of staff would push more to leave the industry.

Mr Leitch said research suggested the proposed changes to ratios would not reduce costs for parents.

A survey carried out by the group in May of 5,800 early nurseries and pre-schools in England found just 2% said relaxing childcare ratios would result in them lowering fees for parents.

Around nine in 10 were opposed to the government proposals to relax ratios and only 13% said they would regularly or permanently use the new ratio if it changed.

Jacqui Hannaby, who manages Granby Nursery in Worksop, said she would stick to the current ratios, even if the government changed the rules, to look after the wellbeing of her staff.

“We can’t recruit – people are leaving left, right and centre,” she said. “Increasing the ratios is only going to add stress to overworked staff.”

Even if she did allow her staff to look after more children, Ms Hannaby said she would not be able to decrease fees or enrol more children because the size of her site limited the numbers she could take.

She added that following the pandemic, many children were coming to her nursery with speech and language or attachment issues after being born during lockdown and needed more attention not less.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The evidence is clear: reducing childcare staff ratios will not reduce costs but will reduce standards of early years education and could put children at risk.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said “our deepest sympathies are with Oliver Steeper’s family” and “the welfare and safety of children remains a priority”.

She said proposals to increase the number of children staff can look after aimed “to give providers more flexibility in how they run their businesses while maintaining safety and quality of care”.

“We continue to explore options to improve the availability and affordability of childcare – no decisions have been taken,” the spokeswoman added.