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Pre-school Education: Safety

Asked by Dr Al PinkertonLiberal DemocratDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 26 January 2026UIN 106366

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support (a) nurseries and (b) early years settings to improve their safeguarding practices in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Olivia Bailey

The ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements early years providers must meet to ensure that children are kept healthy and safe.

To support the early years sector with the safeguarding changes which were introduced to the EYFS in September 2025, the department is developing an online early years safeguarding training package in collaboration with the NSPCC.

It will be a free and universal offer open to all early years settings, educators and reception-based staff to access.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England, including Surrey, about their sufficiency of childcare and any other issues they are facing.

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