Relaxing nursery rules aims to save parents £40 a week

The government hopes the move will help to reduce the cost of childcare
Caroline Wheeler
and
Harry Yorke
The Sunday Times
Childcare costs have risen sharply over the past decade and are now more than £2,000 a year higher than in 2010
Childcare costs have risen sharply over the past decade and are now more than £2,000 a year higher than in 2010
GETTY IMAGES
Caroline Wheeler
and
Harry Yorke
The Sunday Times

Childcare costs will be reduced by about £40 a week for families of toddlers under government plans to increase the number of youngsters each adult can look after.

In an effort to ease the cost of living pressure on families, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, is expected to announce plans this week to relax the rules around the ratio of staff-to-children in nurseries.

The Department for Education is expected to bring England more into line with Scotland, with looser ratios for children over the age of two. At present, rules in both England and Scotland allow a ratio of one adult to three children aged under two. For older children, the rules for nurseries differ. In England, it is one adult for every four children;