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 numbers of registered carers to enable families to participate in work and training while their children are cared for in a safe environment. The prospect of charging childminders and their families for criminal record checks therefore seems deeply unwise.'
Last week employment and equal opportunities minister Margaret Hodge wrote to the NCMA and other organisations representing day nurseries, pre-schools and playgroups to tell them the Government had decided to exempt all childcarers from paying for criminal records checks over the Bureau's first year of operation. In her letter she said, 'We are aware that childcare workers do not have to pay for their criminal record checks at present and we do not want them to bear the cost of those checks when the Criminal Records Bureau starts operating. We have therefore set aside money to pay for the cost of these CRB checks in 2001/2002, and we will review the need for continuing provision in future years.'
Both the Department for Education and Employment and Ofsted, whose Early Years Directorate takes over the registration and inspection of childminders from 1 September, were unable to say how many people this would exempt. However, they said that no decision had been made as to whether the fee waiver would apply to all 76,500 registered childminders in England or just newly registered childminders, or a combination of both.
Childcare organisations welcomed the decision. NCMA chief executive Gill Haynes said, 'We are very pleased that our campaign about this charge has been successful. The Government has listened to our views and the fact that not only registered childminders but all childcare workers will be having free record checks this year is brilliant news for everyone working in childcare.'
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, added, 'We are pleased that the Government has allocated funding for checks with the Criminal Records Bureau. They have clearly identified that this would have been an added cost for both providers and nursery staff. Such a cost would also have potentially dissuaded new entrants from joining the sector, particularly childminders.
'This is a time of significant change, and such gestures certainly smooth the path for childcare staff.'
Pre-school Learning Alliance chief executive Margaret Lochrie said, 'At a time when some pre-schools are still experiencing financial difficulty, this move to remove additional expense will be enthusiastically received.' Mrs Hodge's letter coincided with an announcement by Home Office minister Charles Clarke that the fee had been set at 12. He said it was not intended to replace other checks and procedures such as taking up references and checking into a person's employment history. But, he said, 'The Criminal Records Bureau will enable more thorough checking and will help to prevent unsuitable people from having access to children'.
