The Investors in Children (IiC) scheme will not now have a one-star to three-star rating for the quality of care provided, as envisaged last year by prime minister Tony Blair. Instead the scheme will monitor all of the early years sector's Quality Assurance schemes to ensure they meet minimum criteria and enforce high standards of provision.
Speaking at a conference in London organised by the National Childminding Association (NCMA), Catherine Ashton, early years minister, told delegates that following consultation on the scheme the Government had decided to form a new body to evaluate the existing Quality Assurance schemes - of which there are at least 50 - and that they would be invited to apply for IiC status. 'We will convene a group of people to evaluate the schemes and OK them or send them back. Approved schemes will show our ongoing commitment to quality,' she said.
Asked by a delegate who would be on this new panel, Baroness Ashton admitted she didn't know yet. But, she added, 'We are looking for advice from people who are involved in this, so it will be a mix of those involved with schemes, using schemes and on the receiving end of schemes.' The Department for Education and Skills is expected to begin to seek suitable candidates shortly.
In order to quality for IiC status, it is likely that each Quality Assurance scheme will have to meet the same ten criteria as were outlined in the DfES consultation document.
It is expected that Ofsted's Early Years Directorate will introduce an element of grading into its inspections of registered daycare to reflect on the quality of provision as its inspectors see it. The result will be that care providers that are part of a Government-accredited Quality Assurance scheme will also be able to claim IiC status.
The early years sector gave a warm welcome to the Government's decision to drop the star-ratings element of IiC, which Gill Haynes, NCMA chief executive said had been a 'nightmare scenario'. She said, 'It is very good to hear the positive results of the consultation exercise, and that what you have said has been taken on board. This is tremendous news for the sector as things will be much clearer now that every scheme will have to be tested to IiC criteria.'
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, agreed. She said, 'This is what the sector wanted. Right from the start the early years sector wanted Government-approved schemes. We are delighted the Government has listened to the sector, which was united on this issue in saying that the star-rating scheme was complicated, cumbersome and would only have confused parents even more.'
