Childminders get £1.6m to start up

New childminders in Wales are to receive more than £1.6m in start-up grants over the next three years under a contract drawn up between the National Childminding Association and the Welsh Development Agency (WDA). Jane Hutt, children's minister, said last week that the contract to support new childminders was partly in recognition of the growing care sector and its need of business support. She said, 'The WDA has seen that childminders starting work are business start-ups like any other, and that there is an extra payback for the economy through the new childcare provision that results.