Government clarifies registration position of unpaid childminders

The Government has made it clear it will not extend regulatory oversight to people looking after their friends' children unpaid, according to a new consultation document published by the the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

The paper, published on Thursday, 3 December, says that the much-reported proposal to amend the Childcare Act 2006 to require childcare arrangements between friends to be subject to registration with Ofsted is not part of its plans.

“The Government has a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to make sure that children are safe and have the best start in life when they are in the care of other people; and parents have a right to expect this,” the DCSF said. “The Government has never sought to regulate care in a child's own home, care that takes place within the family or informal care arrangements between friends that are not for monetary payment.”

The DCSF has highlighted a childminder is defined in the Childcare Act 2006 as someone who provides childcare on domestic premises for “reward” and subject to registration by Ofsted. Government now seeks to clarify reciprocal childcare arrangements do not fall within the scope of this definition and ensure parents who have entered into such arrangements with friends are not required by Ofsted to register as childminders.

The exemption being proposed would have the effect of removing from Ofsted the power to investigate complaints to them about the standard of childcare provided by one friend to another's child. Ofsted’s power would be limited to checking allegations that the care should be registered because the arrangement was not in fact between friends or was in exchange for money.

Responses to the consultation are invited by 31 January 2010.

For more information please visit: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultationDetails&consultationId=1687&external=no&menu=1