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Childminder

Introduction

So you've decided you want to run a childminding business. Childminding involves looking after other people's children, usually in your own home, on a professional basis. As with any other business venture, setting up a childminding business will require some financial planning. You will also need to address certain practical aspects.

This guide will take you through the issues you need to consider and give you practical pointers on getting started.

Sector trends

Even though the number of young children in the UK is falling, demand for child-care services has grown steadily over the last few years because:

  • more and more women are going out to work
  • the number of single-parent households is increasing
  • social trends are changing; fewer people have a large extended family that they can turn to for child-care support
  • greater affluence - although the economic downturn has affected the amount that parents can afford to pay for services such as childcare

The Government has recognised the need for better child-care services for working parents and has introduced new measures to help working parents. These include child-care tax credits and NIC exemption for employer-supported childcare as well as incentives aimed at encouraging more people to set up as professional childminders. Among these incentives is a start-up grant scheme for newly registered childminders in England and Wales.

In 2004 the government introduced funded free early years childcare places for three and four year olds in England. Until September 2010 the scheme paid for at least five 2.5 hour sessions a week per child for up to 38 weeks per year. Now the scheme pays for 15 hours a week and parents can have more flexibility in how they take the free sessions. In September 2009 two-year-olds in the most disadvantaged areas became eligible for ten hours of free childcare per week. Registered childminders are eligible providers of funded free places, provided they belong to an accredited childminder network.

1.1 National Childcare Standards

In 2001 the government replaced the system under which standards for childminders in England varied from one local authority to the next with a set of National Standards. Similar standards were also introduced in Wales in April 2002. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own National Standards. The Standards were reviewed and updated in 2003.

The National Standards are administered by the education standards organisation Ofsted, which regulates the professional childminding industry in England, and by corresponding regional organisations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

They cover such issues as the suitability of the individual childminder and the environment in which childminding services are provided. A print copy is available from the Department for Education online publications shop.

1.2 Childcare Act

In July 2006 the Childcare Act received Royal Assent. This legislation introduces a new legal framework for regulating and inspecting early education and childcare for pre-school children, from birth to age five. All settings that provide childcare for children from birth until they begin Key Stage 1 (at around age five) must follow a national curriculum - called the Early Years Foundation Stage - that combines education and care. You can find out more about the requirements on the Ofsted website.

1.3 Keeping up with developments

Joining a trade association is an excellent way of keeping up to date with new developments in the childcare industry as they happen. There are three main associations especially for childminders in the UK:

Industry journals of interest to childminders include Child Care and Nursery World.