Campaigners for national registration for nannies were celebrating last week after the Government announced that they would be regulated, albeit voluntarily, for the first time so that the parents employing them could receive tax relief.
Proposals set out in a DfES consultation document to extend tax breaks to nannies, childminders of children aged over seven and childcare for those aged over seven and up to 15 at breakfast clubs and holiday play schemes in England have been generally welcomed.
But this enthusiasm for bringing previously unregistered forms of childcare under some form of regulation has been tempered by concern over the decision to make them subject only to a 'light-touch accreditation system'
administered by a new and un-named body. The consultation document, published last week, stated, 'Although it was originally envisaged that such a scheme would be administered by Ofsted, after detailed discussion, this is not now considered appropriate.'
Under the new scheme, parents with two children who earn up to around Pounds 43,000 a year and use the new eligible categories of care will be able to claim the childcare element of the working tax credit. The Government has decided not to extend the tax relief to grandparents, who provide substantial informal childcare.
Salary impact
The proposals have been put out for consultation until 16 August.The Government wants to introduce them in April 2005 to coincide with the start of the Pounds 50 per week tax and national insurance relief for employer-supported childcare.
A DfES spokesman confirmed that parents will be able to claim both the tax and NI exemption and the childcare element of the working tax credit, which pays up to 70 per cent of childcare costs - a maximum of 200 per week for two (equal to a weekly credit of 94.50) or more children, or 135 for one child (equal to a weekly credit of up to 140).
Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, says, 'It's good news for families who use nannies, because for the first time they will be able to claim help with their childcare costs. It's also good news for those who have campaigned for regulation of nannies.'
Katherine Shields, manager of the Imperial Nannies agency in London, says, 'Our nannies all have criminal records checks anyway, and we encourage them to have up-to-date first aid certificates. But the more controls and procedures we have, the better, because hopefully it means that people will be encouraged to use professional agencies.'
But in London, where the highest paid nannies can earn up to 27,000, tapering relief at the 43,000 family income level will have little benefit. While help for parents in London and the south-east employing nannies may be marginal because of high salaries, it is likely to have more of an impact on those in other parts of the country where nannies earn much less.
Tricia Pritchard, professional officer at the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, which represents 7,500 qualified nannies, is currently helping a nanny in Nottingham who earns just 11,500 a year. She says that the average in many parts of the UK ranges between 11,000 and 15,000, and that the tax relief proposals will be beneficial if it means parents can then pay nannies more.
Julia Harris, managing director of North West Childcare, a division of the Manchester-based Childcare Recruitment Company, also cautions against a negative response to the proposals. She says, 'Despite ingrained preconceptions, nannies are not just for the rich. Hospital workers on shifts, for example, are among those now opting for nannies as a cost-effective option, particularly when there are two or more children to care for.'
Light touch
The consultation document proposes a voluntary 'light-touch approval scheme' which will be 'non-intrusive', will not involve inspections of private homes and 'leaves responsibility firmly with parents for determining the nature and quality of care while ensuring basic measures are in place to protect children'.
The Government says it intends to 'enter into a contract with a consortium of organisations' who will provide 'the various elements of the approval process', which will be paid for by the childcarer. To be approved, a childcarer must either have a recognised childcare qualification or attend an induction course, have their records checked through the Criminal Records Bureau and have a current first aid certificate relevant to the care of children.
Childcare providers regulated by Ofsted come under the compulsory provisions of the Protection of Children Act and checks have to be carried out whenever someone employed by a childcare organisation changes employer.
Under the light-touch regime, on the other hand, approval must be renewed every year, but nannies would be able to work for more than one family or change families during the 12 months.
Significantly, the decision to opt for a 'light touch' approach without Ofsted appears in part, at least, to be the result of the failure of the homecarers scheme, under which registered childminders can look after children in their family home. The DfES acknowledges that take-up of the scheme has been 'disappointing' - something of an understatement, given that only 174 childminders out of more than 70,000 have registered to join it since the scheme was launched last year.
The consultation document states, 'Many have commented that the requirement to be registered as a childminder is inappropriate for nannies working in the parent's own home and that the registration process creates an unnecessary barrier to approval.'
But the decision to exclude Ofsted has come under fire from leading figures in the sector. Stephen Burke says, 'To avoid confusion among parents and ensure consistent standards, Ofsted should be asked to extend their remit to cover nannies as well as childminders and out-of-school clubs.' Its single inspection service had replaced the diverse system of inspection by 150 local authorities, he points out, and 'now it looks as though a parallel inspection service is being created'.
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, says, 'What's the point of having national standards which we all felt the sector should have to raise quality, and then suddenly out of the blue get a "light touch" system? We have the maintained sector on one set of standards which are to their advantage, and the informal sector on another set of standards that are to their advantage, and in the middle the private and voluntary sector running day nurseries who may feel a bit like poor cousins on this.'
Whole profession
Tricia Pritchard thinks 'light touch' is an unfortunate way to describe an approval scheme which, she believes, is more rigorous than is being depicted. 'The phrase is in there to avoid charges of a "nanny state" approach and to appease parents,' she says.
'Anything that recognises that nannies are out there must be applauded. But I don't think it should distract us from getting the whole childcare profession under one inspection regime.'
She hopes nannies submit to the process of accreditation regardless of whether the parents of children they are caring for are seeking to claim tax relief. 'In all the time we have campaigned for a nanny register, those nannies we have surveyed want the credibility they see their nursery nurse and other childcare colleagues enjoying,' she adds.
But Rosemary Murphy warns that the new arrangements could threaten existing provision, with parents luring staff away from nurseries to become nannies in the family home once they can get tax relief for it. Empty places at childminders' and nurseries are the result of the Government failing to provide parents with sufficient subsidies to make childcare affordable - and it should have tackled this before turning to the informal sector, she believes.
However, Tricia Pritchard insists that the new arrangements should not pose a threat to other provision. She argues, 'The nannies are already out there. The issue is that children are being cared for by people who may not be CRB-checked and not necessarily trained in childcare. That cannot be right.'
CARE FOR OLDER CHILDREN
Childminders looking after children over the age of seven and childcare for those aged eight to 15 at breakfast clubs or holiday play schemes will qualify for the same tax reliefs as nannies and be subject to the same 'light touch' approval system.
Under existing arrangements, providers of group care for the over-sevens can get help if they meet the requirements of a quality assurance scheme.
But as the consultation document reveals, 'take-up has been limited within the region of 150 clubs approved nationally.
'It appears that the time taken for providers to meet the rigorous requirements of a quality assurance scheme (on average 12 months), while improving the quality of the setting, can act as a barrier to approval.'
Anne Longfield, chief executive of the charity 4Children, says, 'Protection for all children in childcare is long overdue. Children are vulnerable well into their teenage years. It has always been something of an anomaly that childcare for over-sevens is not regulated.
'However, the consultation document does not propose making approval compulsory. We believe that anyone with responsibility for children of whatever age and for even short or irregular periods must be regulated.
'The Government's declared aim is to enable parents to work or train by providing them with the safe, affordable and reliable childcare they need.
Safety is paramount, and the simplest way to ensure safety is universal regulation.'
