The children and families minister has said that countries with cheaper childcare provision pay more in tax as he introduced Government reforms on childminders in England.
On Monday, the Government announced a new consultation exploring a change to staff-to-child ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds, which would bring England into line with ratios in Scotland.
Labour has said the proposed changes are “pathetic”, while Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, has said the plans are “beyond frustrating” and that the Government needs to admit “that if we want to have affordable, quality, sustainable care and early education in this country, we need to invest substantially more into the sector than we are doing at the moment”.
