ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ

By Caroline Wadham

Prime Minister Liz Truss is planning to drive the creation of new childminder agencies as part of the government’s plans to cut early years costs and boost childminder numbers, the  has reported.

As part of the plans, childminder agencies, which the government describes as “one-stop-shops" for childminders, providing settings with training, admin support and marketing services, would be publicly funded. According to the Telegraph, Ofsted inspections of childminder settings could also end, with the agencies taking over these responsibilities.

In July, the government set out several proposals to increase the number of registered childminders. These included:

• Reducing the upfront costs of becoming a childminder via financial support.
• Allowing childminders to spend more of their time working from a greater range of locations.
• Giving childminders greater flexibilities within the ratios when looking after their own children or siblings of other children.
• Working with Ofsted to reduce inspection of childminders.
• Slimming down the childminder specific Early Years Foundation Stage, reducing the framework by one-third to ensure content is targeted and simpler to navigate.

‘A waste of everyone’s time’

Neil Leitch, CEO of the ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ, said: "In the eight years since then-early years minister Liz Truss firstly introduced childminder agencies in England, the number of childminders across the country has fallen from just under 52,000 to just over 31,000 - a decline of 40% - while the number of agencies currently stands at a grand total of six. The idea, therefore, that agencies are even part of the answer to the problems currently facing the early years is simply laughable.

"Childminders are early education professionals who, like their nursery, pre-school, school and further education counterparts, rightly value their hard-earned individual Ofsted ratings as independent evidence of the quality of the care and education they provide. As such, the fact that the government is once again pushing this damp squib of a policy shows just how little they understand this vital part of our early years sector.

"The government’s utterly misguided fixation on deregulation will do nothing to address the many challenges currently facing the sector. If ministers are truly committed to tackling the early years crisis, they should look to invest what’s needed to deliver affordable, sustainable, high-quality childcare and early education. Attempting reform on the cheap is simply a waste of everyone’s time."