THE DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION HAS MADE A U-TURN OVER ITS DECISION NOT TO PUBLISH THE RESULTS OF A KEY EARLY YEARS CONSULTATION, WHICH INCLUDED PLANS TO RAISE CHILD: ADULT RATIOS IN EARLY YEARS SETTINGS, FOLLOWING AN APPEAL BY THE UNION UNISON, NURSERY WORLD CAN EXCLUSIVELY REVEAL.

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Unison had challenged the Department’s decision not to publish the consultation’s findings via a Freedom of Information request.

The DfE had only agreed to publish a breakdown of the number and type of respondents, which showed that 1,394 responses were received.

Responding to Unison’s initial FOI request, the DfE said that it was deemed not ‘in the public interest’ to publish the results of the consultation on early education and staff deployment.

It also said that it had decided against publishing because to do so would be ‘likely to have a corrosive effect on the conduct of good Government.’

Now after Unison’s appeal against the decision, the DfE has considered the case again and has concluded that the ‘public interest was finely balanced’. Read full article…