The news last week was welcomed by the National Childminding Association (NCMA) but criticised by the National Day Nurseries Association.
Education and equal opportunities minister Margaret Hodgsaid last Friday, 'We can't afford to lose people from this profession at a time when we are seeking to expand it, especially in disadvantaged areas. Many childminders in these areas face problems when children in their care move on to school or out of the area. If these places go unfilled for too long, many stop childminding and seek alternative employment.'
The Government plans to spend 3.5m, some of which is from the European Social Fund, over two years on bridging grants of up to 100 a week over a five-week period for childminders in deprived areas who are going through difficult times. The areas chosen are the bottom 20 per cent of the Department for the Environment, Transport and Regions' multiple deprivation index, or an area of equivalent disadvantage within a more affluent area.
The childminder grant will be available through local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships after a childminder in a disadvantaged area has had an unfilled place for more than two weeks. The amount they get will be equivalent to up to 80 per cent of the average local payment per childminding place, up to a 100 per week maximum. Childminders can apply for the grant only twice in any 12-month period.
Gill Haynes, NCMA chief executive, said, 'The minister is right - we cannot afford to lose experienced childminders at a time when more and more parents want to choose home-based care. We know that childminders in deprived areas are being forced to give up their business when the child in their full-time care moves on to school. This much-welcomed assistance will encourage childminders to stay on and provide the continuity of care that parents desperately want.'
Last year the NCMA published a document, Closer to home, outlining a 'new deal' for childminding, families and communities, and calling on the Government to consider extra help for childminders in disadvantaged areas.
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), however, warned that the childminders' grant could prove divisive among daycare providers. NDNA chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'This is a short-term strategy, which I am sure will be welcomed by the few childminders who will be supported. It will, however, be divisive, creating inequalities and resentment between childminders and other providers in deprived areas.'
The NDNA has repeatedly called on the Government to directly subsidise childcare providers rather than parents through the childcare tax credit element of the Working Families Tax Credit.
A Department for Education and Employment spokeswoman did not rule out giving assistance to other providers. She said, 'The Government is looking at the whole early years sector through its national childcare strategy. This announcement is specific assistance for childminders in disadvantaged areas who are having financial difficulties.'
The spokeswoman stressed that the Government was committed to the entire early years sector, but would not say whether the Government intended to offer similar financial help to pre-schools, playgroups and day nurseries.
