Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanism her Department uses to monitor the number of reportable incidents recorded in (a) nurseries and (b) other non-domestic childcare settings across local authorities in England.

The Department for Education does not monitor the number of nursery workers referred to local authorities or the number of incidents. Ofsted considers notifications of serious incidents to determine whether or not the provider remains suitable for registration but it does not aggregate the total number of incidents.

All nurseries and pre-schools have a responsibility to keep children safe. Ofsted is responsible for ensuring that the safeguarding requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework are adhered to by early years providers across England. If providers have concerns about children’s safety or welfare they must notify agencies with statutory responsibility without delay. It is a requirement for an employee in each setting to be trained in paediatric first aid. We are due to publish a revised EYFS in 2017, which will strengthen existing paediatric first aid requirements. Anyone who has any concerns should report them immediately to Ofsted. The EYFS is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2