No substantial rise in childminder registration fees

The National Childminding Association (NCMA) has today welcomed the decision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) not to press ahead with proposals to substantially increase annual registration fees for registered childminders and other childcare providers.

 

The proposals, outlined in the DCSF’s consultation, Future Approach to Fees and Subsidies, included increasing childminder registration fees by over 400 per cent in three years. NCMA argued strongly in its response that the proposals could seriously undermine the sustainability of 67,000 childminding settings and reduce parental choice.

 

However, the DCSF has today announced that fees for the Early Years Register will only increase by £5 annually until 2010, when the government will review the fee framework again. This means that in 2010 childminders on the Early Years Register will pay £35 rather than the £100 as originally proposed. The current fee levels set for the Ofsted Childcare Register (OCR) for both the compulsory (for those caring for children between 5 and 7 years) and voluntary (childcare that is not required to be registered) parts will remain unchanged.

 

Andrew Fletcher, Director of Communications at NCMA, said:

 

"This is very good news for the large majority of childminders who will be on the Early Years Register, caring for children from birth to 5, and we are delighted that the Government has taken time to reflect on its proposals in light of the 3300 responses it received from childminders.

 

"NCMA has worked hard over the last six months to reflect the concerns of our members in England to politicians and policy makers. We have argued that the proposals put at risk the estimated 126,000 childcare places on offer through childminding settings, which would drastically undermine parental choice at a time when the Government is encouraging greater flexibility in childcare services. The childcare sector is going through considerable policy change with the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage and we are pleased that the Department has listened to these concerns and decided to pursue the more proportionate fee increases.

 

"It is disappointing that the Department has chosen not to review the fees for the OCR and clearly there is still a lot of work to do to ensure the long term fee and subsidy framework beyond 2010 is proportionate and fair. We look forward to working with the Department to ensure this reflects the circumstances of registered childminders and nannies."

 

For more information about NCMA’s recommendations, contact Louise Banks, Press Officer on 020 8290 2519 or email media.ncma@ncma.org.uk.

 

DCSF’s announcement can be found online at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/newslist.cgi (external link)

 

DCSF’s consultation results can be found at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs
/Fees%20response.doc (external link)

 

Source: NCMA Press Office ( 19/6/2008 )