Early childhood education licensing criteria may be cut after Government review

The Government plans to simplify early childhood education regulations and strengthen enforcement against non-compliant providers. The review found “excessive and confusing” regulations and recommended scrapping about a fifth of the rules. David Seymour said “graduated enforcement tools” would be introduced from mid-2026 to address breaches proportionately.

The Government wants to strip back early childhood education licensing criteria but beef up enforcement powers to target providers that don’t comply. It follows the release of the Government’s review of the early childhood education (ECE) sector that found “excessive and confusing” regulations, outdated settings limiting service supply and “weak pressure on low-quality” providers to improve. The review, led by the Ministry of Regulation , highlighted what Regulations Minister David Seymour described as 98 “calcified, high-stakes licensing criteria” that could lead to an ECE centre being shut down if breached.



While consultation on any changes would begin “shortly”, the review recommended scrapping about a fifth of the 98 rules. They would either be completely removed or transformed into “good practice guidelines”..