Hands off!

Consultation is under way on the latest Government proposals for the regulation of out-of-school childcare. As Simon Vevers reports, the sector is far from impressed Government plans to deregulate group childcare for six- and seven-year-olds have stirred passions and protests, particularly from practitioners and providers in the out-of-school sector. One objector has labelled facilitating unregulated services for that age group as 'tantamount to child abuse'.