Labour MP Tulip Siddiq is urging the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to mandate CCTV in nurseries and strengthen regulation, following the abuse of children at Bright Horizons nursery in West Hampstead, London.
Campaign for Mandatory CCTV
For seven years, the youngest constituents of Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Highgate, were abused at the nursery. Earlier this year, Vincent Chan was jailed for 18 years for his crimes. Siddiq highlights that the lack of evidence in the rooms where Chan was in charge has left many families with unanswered questions.
A group of 200 affected parents has formed to demand mandatory CCTV in nurseries and for Ofsted to review footage in all inspections. They have met with the previous education secretary and early years minister, and gave evidence to an expert panel on the feasibility of such a measure.
Support from Manchester and the Lullaby Trust
Siddiq, alongside the parents of Genevieve Meehan in Manchester and the Lullaby Trust, is urging Burnham to act. The campaign cites 20,000 reports of serious childcare incidents in English nurseries over the past five years, arguing that CCTV could have caught perpetrators earlier and saved children from harm in cases from Bristol and Manchester to Twickenham.
Parents are also calling for an improved inspection and accountability framework for early years settings, after concerns were repeatedly ignored by staff and regulators. Siddiq emphasizes that babies and toddlers are the most vulnerable in society and must be protected.
