Petition · past parliament

Not to raise staff ratios in early years

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Look at “free childcare” not ratios. The amount the nurseries get funded for child care does not cover staff wages or consumables at all. Settings charge extra to meet these costs. Stop treating early years educators as babysitters, we do not just supervise children, we educate and care for them!
The ratios in early years are there for a reason. Raising the ratio will mean staff will leave the profession due to stress and workload. Early years staff are underpaid and stressed already, the Pandemic has seen nurseries closed and staff leaving to do less demanding jobs.
There needs to be a change in the way the government sees early years education, especially in deprived areas. We educate, care and safeguard the children in our settings and it’s hard enough without higher ratios

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition which calls for the same action: Do not reduce staff-child ratios in early years childcare

Timeline

27 Apr 2022 Petition opened for signatures
29 Apr 2022 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 29 Apr 2022

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.