DfE publishes childminder agency plans

The Government has been accused of ‘watering down childminder agencies’ with proposals to reduce the number of quality assurance visits and make practice support optional.

A DfE consultation on boosting childminder recruitment and retention states, ‘As the only bodies focused on the recruitment and retention of childminders, CMAs (childminder agencies) have the potential to increase the number of childminders and childcare places. We also want to ensure that the CMA regulatory framework is proportionate, allowing CMAs to operate effectively and expand, while ensuring safe and high-quality childcare provision.’

The consultation proposes:

• Moving from one quality assurance visit a year per childminder to once every two years. The pre-registration visit is not included in this. Where there are concerns about a childminder, this could be reviewed by the agency.
• Making the practice support that CMAs provide to childminders optional rather than a legal requirement. Currently CMAs have to provide at least 20 hours of practice support per year of registration, and ‘later years childminders’ with at least 10 hours.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of Early Years Alliance, called the proposals ‘extremely concerning and misguided’.

He warned, ‘Given the inherent conflict of interest within the agency model, there is a real risk that such a proposal will drive down quality and unfairly undermine the professionalism of this key section of the early years workforce.’

Childminding UK also raised concerns. ‘To reduce the tasks that can help to ensure quality doesn’t seem sensible when support is known to have a positive effect on childminder retention,’ said its executive director, Tina Maltman.

Other measures include:

• Expanding the range of regulated healthcare professionals, working within a GP surgery, who can complete health checks for prospective childminders registering with a CMA or Ofsted to nurses, pharmacists and occupational therapists, to speed up the process and remove the burden on GPs.
• Strengthen expectations or require local authorities to pay childminders, and possibly other providers, monthly, rather than termly if they prefer. The DfE says that while this should already be happening, many childminders report they continue to be paid funding termly, creating issues with cash flow and for those claiming Universal Credit, making them ineligible for the benefit due to large lump sums of money coming into their accounts.

It also seeks views from the sector about how it can help prospective childminders who can’t open a business due to landlords not giving them permission if they are renting, restrictions with leases and, for those who own their own property, restrictive covenants preventing them from doing so.

This is on top of new flexibilities in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, which will increase the time childminders can spend working from non-domestic premises and introduce a new category of childminder that can work 100 per cent of their time from non-domestic premises.

Responding to the consultation, Tina Maltman, executive director of Childminding UK, said, ‘Childminder agencies are identified as the only bodies focused on the recruitment and retention of childminders and cited as having the power to increase the number of childminders, partly due to the support they offer.

‘Childminders have had the choice of joining a CMA for ten years, but only 4 per cent of the childminding workforce choose this option. Our 2022 survey showed that over 53 per cent of childminders said they would stop childminding if it became compulsory to join an agency.’

She went on to highlight how support and training that is freely available through the Stronger Practice Hubs is due to end this year, leaving childminders having to pay for their support and training.

‘Studies have shown that the childcare workforce is four times less likely to leave if they can access training. Changing the narrative from “free childcare” to “subsidised childcare” and allowing childminders to request any shortfall from parents will help childminders afford to access support, training and networking opportunities that can help reduce the isolation of childminding,’ added Maltman.