The Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) has expressed concern that the number of childminder places in Scotland could be reduced by new childcare regulations proposed by the deputy minister for education, Nicol Stephen.
Current legislation allows registered childminders to care for a maximum of six children under the age of eight years old, including their own. But if the new legislation goes ahead the SCMA has pointed out that it could mean they would be registered to look after six children under the age of 16, including their own.
Mr Stephen confirmed in answer to a parliamentary question last month that measures to extend childcare regulation would be included in upcoming legislation on regulation of care services. He said, 'I have considered the matter carefully and decided that full regulation should be applied to care for all children up to the age of 16 years.
'We originally planned to fully regulate care for children of primary school age and to have more limited regulation for older children up to 14 or 16 for those with a disability.
'Although children over the age of 12 are better able to look after their own interests, we have decided there is still a case for regulating the care of all children up to the age of 16 whether or not they have a disability. This will also help the integration of disabled children in mainstream services.'
The Scottish Executive has now agreed to look into the issue. A spokeswoman said, 'As a consequence of reconsidering the upper age limit we will now be reviewing our proposals for ratios of children to adults, and therefore the number of children childminders can care for.
'We are now considering the current ratios and we will be consulting with the Scottish Childminding Association. A decision will be made in the next couple of months.'
Maggie Simpson, SCMA national development officer, welcomed the Scottish Executive's response. She said, 'We are concerned that if this new legislation is implemented across the board there will be a crisis in the number of quality childcare places available to working families.
'Take, for example, a registered childminder who has three children of her own aged 16, 14 and 12. With the new legislation in place, all of her own children would be considered within her registration and she would therefore be restricted to providing a maximum three further places. This would impact in particular on the after-school service most registered childminders provide, which is a valuable service for many families. These places are often used for a very short time, less than an hour morning and evening. Our concern is that if these places are limited, children will be left hanging about outside school or left to go home alone.'