Tulip Siddiq MP is urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to support a campaign for mandatory CCTV in nurseries, following the abuse of children at a Bright Horizons nursery in West Hampstead, London. The call comes after Vincent Chan was jailed for 18 years for his crimes against young children.
Abuse at West Hampstead nursery
For seven years, the MP's youngest constituents were abused at the nursery. Siddiq described the situation as "every parent's worst nightmare" and noted that many families may never know if their child was a victim due to a lack of evidence about what happened in the rooms where Chan was in charge.
A group of 200 affected parents has formed to demand mandatory CCTV in nurseries and require Ofsted to review footage in all inspections. The group has met with the previous education secretary and early years minister and gave evidence to an expert panel on the feasibility of such cameras.
Campaign for stronger regulation
Siddiq is urging Burnham to heed the campaign, alongside the parents of Genevieve Meehan in Manchester and the Lullaby Trust, to strengthen nursery safety and regulation. She highlighted that there have been 20,000 reports of serious childcare incidents in English nurseries over the past five years.
While CCTV may not be a complete solution, Siddiq noted that in cases from Bristol, Manchester, and Twickenham, cameras would have caught perpetrators earlier and saved children from harm. Parents are also calling for an improved inspection and accountability framework after concerns were repeatedly ignored by staff and regulators.
