Calls for review of “vulnerable” childcare sector amid staff shortages

Staff shortages that left children unable to attend a Jersey nursery last month are “representative of a wider shortage in qualified childcare practitioners in the island”, according to an industry body – which is calling for a review of the sector.

The Jersey Early Years Association is calling for a “root and branch” review of early years provision after Busy Bees Leeward nursery came under fire on social media for asking families to keep their children at home last month.

The Springfield-based provider temporarily closed one of its rooms and shut entirely for a day in July amid a “shortage of appropriately qualified team members”.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Jersey Early Years Association said the difficulties facing Busy Bees were not isolated.

Clearly, the current model where the lion’s share of the cost falls to working parents is not sustainable

Belinda Lewis, chair of the Jersey Early Years Association

Association chair Belinda Lewis said that staffing had become the “single biggest challenge” facing the childcare sector following the pandemic, with nurseries struggling to recruit and retain enough qualified staff to meet statutory child-to-staff ratios.

She pointed to a number of pressures, including new regulations requiring more qualified staff, the rising cost of living, a shrinking workforce, competition for staff from other industries and changes to immigration rules following Brexit.

The Jersey Early Years Association called for a “root and branch” review of the sector to “identify desired outcomes, determine how they are to be achieved and delivered and by whom”. 

Ms Lewis said: “Clearly, the current model where the lion’s share of the cost falls to working parents is not sustainable, at least in part evidenced by the falling birth rate and the inability of the sector to maintain wages at levels that are commensurate with the expertise and responsibility expected of the modern childcare practitioner.

“We would welcome a meeting with the Minister and his officers to discuss the best way forward.”