Make Manager Handover Guidance Mandatory in Early Years Settings

Every day across early years settings in England, new managers step into their roles without being given the essential information they need to keep children safe.

There is no required handover, no checklist, and no accountability for outgoing managers or providers.

This means safeguarding records, medical plans, SEND information, staff training logs, risk assessments, complaints, and incident histories are often not passed on  leaving children vulnerable and incoming managers exposed to risks they did not create.

This is a national safeguarding gap.

Why this matters:

Children’s medical needs can be missed.

Safeguarding concerns may not be transferred.

SEND support can be disrupted.

Compliance failures are inherited by new managers without warning.

Staff and families experience confusion and inconsistency.

New managers face unfair scrutiny for historic issues they had no knowledge of.

Early years settings already require detailed transition records for children.

Leadership transitions should be treated with the same seriousness.

I am calling upon the Department for Education and Ofsted to:

Introduce mandatory manager handover guidance for all early years settings.

Create a national handover checklist covering safeguarding, medical, SEND, staffing, compliance, and operational information.

Require providers to maintain a continuity file that stays with the setting.

Ensure outgoing managers/providers are accountable for transferring essential information.

Support incoming managers with clear expectations and protection.

This change will protect children, support staff, and ensure new managers can lead safely and confidently from day one.

I urge the DfE and Ofsted to act now.

Children deserve continuity.

Managers deserve protection.

The sector deserves clarity and fairness.