Childcarers excused from fees for checks

Childcarers in England will be exempted from paying for their criminal record checks during the Criminal Records Bureau's first year of operation from this autumn. The decision to exempt childcarers followed a campaign against the £12 fee led by the National Childminding Association (NCMA). In February the charity warned the Home Affairs select committee on charging for criminal record checks that making childminders pay for checks on all the adults in their household could lead to a drop in the number of registered childminders. NCMA chief executive Gill Haynes said then, 'So many Government strategies now rely on increasing the...