无码天堂

by Jess Gibson

Childminders who live in rented housing should be allowed to run their business from home, the government has said. 

Claire Coutinho, the children, families and wellbeing minister, has written to social landlords, developers, and housing associations in England to call for reforms to restrictive tenant clauses preventing childminders from running their businesses from home.   

The call comes on the heels of data revealing the number of childminders in England has more than halved in the last decade, according to the Department for Education (DfE). 

One reason behind this is blanket bans being placed in tenancy agreements to prevent using rented homes for business purposes.  

Data collected by childminding agency Tiney highlights that one in eight childminders who failed to complete the registration process stated that restrictions in their leasehold tenancy agreement prevented them from doing so. Others found that their landlords鈥� mortgage agreements had their own restrictions from lenders. 

The call from Coutinho to landlords follows other government proposals for childminders and the early years sector at large: 

• Funding rates for 15- and 30-hour entitlements increased from a national average of 拢5.29 to 拢5.62 for three- and four-year-olds and 拢6 to 拢7.95 for two-year-olds 

• Relaxed rules to allow up to four childminders to work together in groups and spend more time working outside of their own homes 

• Early years start-up grants worth up to 拢1,200 

The government has also stated plans to consult on reducing registration times to 10 weeks and ensure that local authorities pay childminders monthly. 

The government says that the aim of these proposals is 鈥渢o help encourage entry into the profession and increase availability of childcare for parents鈥�. However, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the 无码天堂, has warned that the plans fall far short of what is needed. 

He said: 鈥淭oday鈥檚鈥痑nnouncement鈥痺ill鈥痜ail to鈥痳ectify鈥痮r even slightly remedy the issues facing England鈥檚 childminding sector.鈥�� 

鈥淐hildminders are a crucial part of the early years鈥痵ector,鈥痓ut they continue to be鈥痷nderfunded,鈥痷ndervalued鈥痑nd underappreciated.鈥痀et,鈥痳ather than addressing or even acknowledging this, the鈥痝overnment has鈥痠nstead鈥痺asted time and resources by鈥痯utting鈥痜orward鈥痗hanges to鈥痬inor challenges鈥痶hat in reality, will鈥痬ake鈥痑 small amount鈥痮f鈥痙ifference.鈥�� 

鈥淲e know that, while property restrictions may be an issue for a small proportion of鈥痗hildminders,鈥痠t will do little, if anything at all, to prompt lasting, effective change.鈥��� 

鈥淚n addition, simply reminding鈥痺hen鈥痩ocal authorities鈥痵hould鈥痯ay entitlement payments to childminders, and鈥痬arginally鈥痵peeding鈥痷p the approval process,鈥痙oes not go far enough to鈥痚ven鈥痶emporarily ease pressures.鈥� 

鈥淟et鈥檚 be clear, what childminders, and the rest of the early years sector urgently need, is a long-term plan supported by realistic funding. Anything less not only entirely underestimates the severity of the challenges the sector is facing but prompt even more to leave."鈥�