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Childcare red tape review reveals confusion and high cost of regulation

Legislation Inspection
Paperwork costs childcare providers more than £17m a year, a Government review into cutting red tape has found.

Inspections, guidance, and paperwork are among the regulatory burdens faced by the childcare sector, costing providers millions of pounds a year.

The Government is to develop a ‘myth-buster’ document to dispel confusion around the inspections process and reduce the duplication of paperwork, particularly between Ofsted and local authorities.

The Cutting Red Tape review carried out between April and December aimed to identify barriers to growth and productivity in the childcare sector and received evidence from more than 250 childcare providers from childminders, small nursery businesses with fewer than ten staff, and large multinational nursery groups. A stakeholder survey was also carried out that asked for cost estimates of regulatory activities, such as inspection.

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