New Childminders to Receive Payment

New Childminders to Receive Payment

Childminders have always been at the heart to the UK’s childcare sector, but since the 1990s their numbers have been declining. This is despite high demand for their services from parents. The last major reform to the childminding sector was the introduction of Childminder Agencies in 2014. Intended to be a revolution in provision, it is only now, almost a decade later, that agencies are truly starting to make their mark. Meanwhile, the total number of Ofsted registered childminders has dropped below 30,000, with the number of leavers growing to more than 5,000 a year as new joiners fall below 2,000.

The government has given a strong indication that it wants to do something about this. In the budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that a pilot scheme will start in the autumn, offering childminders £600 upon registration or £1,200 if they register with a childminder agency. This is significant, as it makes it clear that the government sees childminder agencies as the future, although it is not moving away from independent registration. While agencies have always been controversial in the sector, it is now the case that they account for an increasingly large proportion of new childminder registrations.

While it is encouraging that the government is taking notice of the problems in the childminding sector, trade associations have questioned whether the payments will make enough of a difference. In addition to attracting newcomers, a key issue is retaining existing childminders, who will not benefit from the payment. The reasons people leave childminding are multifaceted and would certainly benefit from serious attention.