Memorandum submitted by Alex Wood
I am writing to express my concern about childminders.
Before beginning I should declare an interest
in that a few months ago my wife—a childminder of over 20
years—failed her Ofsted inspection. The failure involved
technical matters (eg record-keeping) about which there could
be no argument, so I also must make it clear that my letter is
not an attempt to appeal to your Committee. But the removal of
her registration did make me look at the expectations the Government
have of childminders.
As I understand it, the Government has placed
a great deal of stress on pre-Primary School childcare and childminders
are an important part of this. In this situation I would have
expected the Government to consider very carefully the balance
between the need for training and regulation on one hand and the
supply of people willing to be childminders who are subject to
this regime on the other.
Something which surprised us after the "inadequate"
verdict on my wife's childminding was the six people who contacted
us during the next three months to ask her to mind for them. All
had heard that she was good and were disappointed when she told
them that she could no longer be a registered childminder. Three
or four of them said they did not care about that and would like
her to mind their children regardless. Having lost her registration
she declined but there is clearly a high demand for childminders—and
it is certainly not adequately met by registered childminders
in this area.
From our experience it seems that what most
parents want from a childminder is someone who is caring, sensible
and friendly. These attributes cover very simply what a childminder
should do. Whilst it is reasonable for an appropriate authority
to set down a list of standards the variety of demands and detail
involved in Ofsted's guide for childminders seem to be a classic
case of what I think is called "goldplating". A friend
of my wife's who is an unregistered childminder asked a while
ago about the standards. She looked at them overnight and returned
them saying that she could not imagine dealing with her children
and having to think about all the standards too.
One suggestion is that, having failed to provide
sufficient nursery places for the children whose mothers it wishes
to encourage into work, the government's solution has been to
try to upgrade childminding provision by making it more "professional".
In some ways, and for those minders who want it, this is a very
good idea but it overlooks the fact that many (most?) minders—registered
and unregistered—are simply looking for a way of earning
some money at home looking after other people's children. Regardless
of this we have the hefty file of standards and the setting up
of childminding qualifications. Whilst some childminders seem
to welcome the opportunity to gain such qualifications, I thought
the following letter from Who Minds? (Autumn 2007) interesting:
In response to the letter "Money talks",
I agree that most parents aren't bothered about the training I
do or the fact that I belong to my local childminding network.
They just want someone to feed and watch-out for their children.
I have been a childminder for 17 years, and
the majority of parents that I have had contact with are not bothered
if I give the children learning experiences or take them on outings,
other than to toddler groups and the park. A lot of parents still
think of childminders as a cheap option for childcare and don't
think it's a proper job. Most parents are amazed at the amount
of paperwork involved in placing a child with me, and think I
must be mad giving up my own time to go to training sessions.
A lot of parents don't want nursery-style care—they just
want a "normal" person who likes looking after children.
I send out regular newsletters telling parents
about the training I have done, any training that is coming up
and a little bit about what I have learned, but I very rarely
get any feedback ....
A lot of my friends think that the joy has gone
out of childminding, as we become more and more overwhelmed by
legislation and paperwork. My husband has always supported me
in my work, providing encouragement and doing extra chores when
I did my training, but even he is getting fed up with the amount
of time I spend doing planning, charts and paperwork.
Another minder complains:
... being a single parent, completing Quality
First and writing-up progress reports does restrict the amount
of time I have left to spend with my own children.
I think most childminders would be able to empathise
with such points of view.
The inspection regime has also changed over
the years. At one time—and maybe this was not rigorous enough—inspection
involved an officer coming to see my wife for a chat, after which
one or two fairly gentle recommendations would be made. The first
Ofsted inspection was more formal but still friendly and based
on talking to each other and a mutual understanding of the rewards
and demands of the job—my wife got a "Good" grade
for that one. The most recent inspection by Ofsted was very different
with the inspector sitting at a laptop, ticking off what seemed
to be an endless list of questions and not taking too much interest
in the childminding which was going on at the time.
If the inspection was bad the report just typified
what had taken place. Stuffed with jargon, made up from a computer-based
statement bank, including a major error (the section on business
arrangements just does not make sense) and full of pompous assumptions
( for example the report states that a car insurance policy which
does not include the children minded puts them in danger—completely
overlooking the fact that my wife made it totally clear that she
never uses the car to transport the children). An inhuman document
to match a soulless inspection.
At the same time a great deal of unregistered
minding is taking place. From our experience I would guess that
in this area there are at least as many unregistered minders—who
are caring for children in circumstances where the law determines
that only registered minders should be used—as registered
ones.
Prosecutions seem to be rare.
In the pursuit of good childminding the government
has set up a rigorous system of registration, an encouragement
to train and develop professionally and a very rigorous inspection
system. But the many people who do not want to become involved
in this—like my wife's friend—form a whole, separate
and unregulated childminding sector with little interference from
the authorities. It is easy to say "live and let live"
in such a situation but an unregistered childminder will not be
CRB-checked and their homes will not be checked for safety.
With respect I would like the Committee to look
at this issue.
For what it is worth I feel that the government
needs to look again at its attitude to childminding, a vital but
straightforward job which has become unnecessarily difficult over
the years, largely due to excessive government intervention. At
the same time as "setting the bar lower" the government
should spend the resources it now uses to "goldplate"
the implementation of childminding regulations in order to ensure
that ALL childminders are registered and working to a sensible
but limited set of demands.
March 2008
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