"Inconsistency" over child regulations

Campaigners Call For Child Care Reform

Ministers say they aim to promote better integration between child care and pre-school education, as part of plans to expand nursery schooling.

But the Daycare Trust said that expansion should not be at the expense of quality. Services from birth to the beginning of statutory school age were currently dogged by a proliferation of inconsistent regulations, the trust said.

It said four-year-old children in the care of child-minders were protected by regulations which specified a minimum of one adult for every three children.

But in nursery classes catering for children of the same age, the minimum ratio was one adult to 13, while in reception classes, there was no minimum ration.

There were also no regulations covering children in the care of nannies, or child care services for youngsters over the age of eight, the trust said.

Kelleher: Current system "a mess"

In another example of inconsistency and confusion, it said, some pre-school facilities were inspected annually, others every four years.

The trust called for the creation one regulatory system for all child care and pre-school services, for children aged up to the age of 14, with no services exempt.

A Quality Commission should be established to review existing regulations, and set harmonised quality standards, paving the way for legislative reform, it said.

"The current system of regulation is an incoherent mess which does not consistently ensure basic quality standards and undermines public confidence," said a spokeswoman Colette Kelleher.

"These proposed reforms, together with an investment by Government, would provide a greatly improved quality framework to ensure that the increasing number of children's services are of the highest possible standards," she said.