Boris Johnson has called for cuts in childcare costs by allowing crèches in England to accommodate more young children without hiring additional staff, as part of plans to ease health and safety rules to ease the cost of living.
During a cabinet brainstorming session to reduce the cost of living, Johnson joined the idea of reviewing the staffing ratio in a child’s crèche, while Grant Shaps, the transport minister, proposed imposing a MOT once every two years, not one. Other proposed ideas include eliminating food import tariffs and eliminating net zero commitments.
According to one source, Johnson wanted to speed up the review of childcare costs, which looks at how many children each adult can observe. A cabinet source said Nadhim Zahawi, the education minister, was looking to bring England more in line with Scotland, which has lower ratios for two-year-olds.
Currently, both England and Scotland allow one adult for three children under the age of two, but differ for two-year-olds, with England saying one adult for four children and Scotland allowing one adult for five children.
For children aged three or over, England allows qualified staff to care for 13 children each and non-qualified staff to care for eight children. In Scotland, the rules are one adult for eight children aged three to eight and one adult for 10 children for those over eight.
At the same meeting, Schaps raised the idea of easing the rules for MOT, which regulate the technical condition of vehicles. He suggested allowing safety checks every two years, not every year in an attempt to save drivers money, after a six-month extension during the pandemic.
The meeting came after Johnson urged his cabinet to consider ways to reduce the cost of living crisis, just weeks after Rishi Sunak’s spring statement was criticized for failing to help families. However, they were warned that there would be no extra money and wanted to come up with “non-fiscal” solutions.
Sunak “stressed the importance of not fueling further rising inflation and stressed that the United Kingdom is currently spending £ 80 billion to service our debt,” said No. 10. The prime minister will consider options when chairing a committee on Internal and Economic Strategy ”in the coming weeks.
Both Labor and Democrats have accused the government of planning to compromise the safety of children. Bridget Phillipson, secretary of shadow education, said: “Conservatives are making high-quality childcare increasingly inaccessible and inaccessible … Now the government’s decision is to reduce quality without making a difference in availability.
Munira Wilson, Lib Dem’s education spokesman, added: “Boris Johnson’s new plan is not to tackle the problem directly, but to cut corners and endanger his children instead. Their safety must be our number one priority, not a cost-cutting measure. “
This also comes when the cabinet is facing a split at number 10 and Jacob Reese-Mogg’s approach is trying to force civil servants to return to the office. At least two cabinet ministers are known to be skeptical of Reese-Mogh’s confrontational approach to leaving notes on civil servants’ offices when they are seen not in the office, in addition to Nadine Doris, the culture minister, who said that this move is “Dickensian”.
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The lack of enthusiasm for the Reese-Mogg crusade to bring civil servants back to “pre-pandemic work” is also evident at the ministerial level. A senior minister and a regular loyalist of Johnson said the number 10’s fighting attitude toward the civil service made no sense, saying: “Don’t argue with the civil service, because they will find a way to fuck you. They said their department is committed to trusting civil servants to find balance and work flexibly.
One cabinet source said the finger-swinging approach was less successful than setting clear, flexible guidelines, while another said their department’s tactics were “encouraging” and “optimistic.”
The Guardian reported on Monday that Simon Case, the cabinet’s secretary, and at least four permanent secretaries were among those who expressed concerns about Reese-Mogg’s approach.
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