Alliance comments on аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø¿ª½±â€™s report on the childminder agency consultation responses

28th May 2014

Commenting on the report on the childminder agency consultation responses published today by аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø¿ª½±, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said:

The scope of this consultation was always too narrow, as the focus was on the quality of service provided by agencies, and not the quality of care provided by the childminders themselves.

As a result, while this report has given the sector a slightly clearer idea of how agency inspections will work in practice, the bigger concerns about the potential implications of removing individual inspections for registered childminders have been completely ignored.

For example, it is still unclear what will happen if a childminder previously rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ registers with an agency that is subsequently rated ‘requires improvement’ - will they, by default, be seen to ‘require improvement’ as well, even if the quality of care they provide is excellent? And how will this impact on their ability to access free entitlement funding?

Given that agencies are set to be introduced in little over three months, it is deeply concerning that there is still no clarity on this, and until questions like this are answered, many childminders will remain rightly sceptical of the whole initiative.

For further information, please .

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Notes for editors

  2. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  3. Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
  4. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website:

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