Slashing red tape: Seymour reveals ECE rules to face scrutiny

Rules and regulations governing early childcare centres will face the heat under David Seymour and his Regulation Ministry's first "red tape review".

This afternoon, the Minister for Regulation announced he would target the early childhood education (ECE) sector, in what's set to be the first of many "sector reviews".

The second of the reviews would begin before the end of the year, according to the Government. The reviews were agreed to as part of National and ACT's coalition agreement and part of Seymour's election promises.

The minister said today that "affordability and availability" issues and the "complexity of regulation" have led to "urgent calls from the sector to conduct a review".

"Parents want to know their child is safe and well cared for, but costs and waiting lists because of burdensome rules and regulations put ECE out of reach for many," he said.

An industry group representing childcare centres welcomed the review today, while Labour said existing ECE regulations "are there for a reason".

Seymour continued: "In some cases, existing regulation has not been effective at avoiding the harm it was seeking to prevent.

"Clearly, there is a need to assess the relevance and impact of regulation with the health, safety and well-being of children as the priority.

"We will engage formally with teachers, centre owners, caregivers, parents, government agencies, child advocacy groups, unions, research bodies, and others connected to the sector to understand from the ground up where the problems are.

"The review will include, but is not limited to, education, health, safety, child protection, food safety, buildings and workplaces as they relate to the early childhood education sector. It will not include funding, which will be separately reviewed.

"In six months, a series of decisions will be put to Cabinet proposing to change or remove rules and regulations that don’t stack up."

In his announcement, Seymour said he received anecdotes and examples of problematic regulations in the ECE sector that he "wished were made up".

"They're going on a search and destroy mission through the centres, to find rules that don't stack up," the minister told Newshub yesterday.

Seymour added today: "ECE services provide families and parents a choice to confidently leave their children in the care of others so they can work, study or volunteer. It is particularly an enabler for parents who want to rejoin the paid workforce."

Reviewing regulations governing the early childhood education sector was part of ACT's pre-election policy commitment. The party promised "red tape reviews" in four sectors.

In the party's coalition agreement, "regulation sector reviews" were also suggested for the primary industries, healthcare occupational and finance sectors.

In each case, the reviews would produce an omnibus bill for regulatory reform of laws affecting specific sectors.

The Ministry for Regulation, which will lead the reviews, was also established as a result of ACT's coalition deal, with money coming from shuttering the Productivity Commission.

Labour Party education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said no early childhood teacher has suggested to her that there are too many regulations.

"All of the regulations in ECE are there for a reason. They've been put there because things have happened over time. They're there to keep young people safe," she said.

"They're there to keep the teachers safe as well, but they're also there to keep parents informed of what's actually happening during the day for young people."

She added: "I have spoken to many ECE teachers, and all of them say to me, that they can't think of regulations that need to be replaced or removed. They know that they're there for a reason, and they want to keep the young people in front of them safe. "

In his explanation for holding a review, Seymour pointed to anecdotes he said were received from the frontline.

“We have heard reports from centres around the country where teachers and carers are spending their time dealing with regulators and writing reports and plans on absurd things like the risk of apples falling from a tree in the playground".

Early childhood education received a small funding boost in last week's Budget, however, a sector group had criticised the 2% increase for being lower than inflation.

Meanwhile, National's flagship policy for ECE subsidies is set to begin for parents next month, with the first payments made in October.

From July, parents and caregivers of young children can receive a partial reimbursement of their ECE fees. Under the scheme, parents can get back up to 25% of their weekly fees, to a maximum of $75 per week.

Eligible people would need to collate their ECE invoices from July 1 and apply on a three-monthly basis for a lump-sum repayment through Inland Revenue's online platform, MyIR.

In March, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said around 21,000 families would be eligible for the rebate and it would cost $723 million over four years. She said the policy was a campaign commitment and formed part of the Government's overall tax plan.

The organisation representing childcare centres welcomed the Government's announcement, suggesting it was an opportunity to "redefine regulation" in the sector.

Early Childhood Council chief executive Simon Laube said it was time to "remove our sector’s headwinds to arrest the decline".

"The ECE regulation system today punishes good people for inconsequential rules, justifying ministry intervention, centre closures and parents losing childcare, thanks to one size fits all regulation," he said in a media release.

"Regulations are part of the problem, but it’s also about how they’re applied, inconsistently and often without clear warnings,

Laube added: "Now’s the time to redefine regulation so services can offer what children, parents and providers want from childcare.

"Let’s support parents and families with young children to choose affordable and high-quality care and education, and remove our sector’s headwinds to arrest the decline."