The Government claims its newest scheme will fill the hours gap in childcare, yet take-up so far has been minimal. Simon Vevers looks at another job description for childminders
The traditional nine to five working day is increasingly being replaced by irregular work patterns, shift and weekend working that mean many families with children, particularly lone parents, face a childcare dilemma. Without flexible and affordable childcare arrangements they have been unable to take up the jobs that the Labour Government wants them to fill.
The Home Childcarers scheme launched on 1 April is aimed at helping to resolve the problem by allowing registered childminders to care for children at the family's own house. It is designed for those working unsocial hours or those with a child with disabilities where care in the family home would be more appropriate.
Parents who meet certain means-tested financial criteria will be able to claim up to 70 per cent of childcare costs through the childcare tax credit element of the new working tax credit up to a maximum of 135 per week for one child and 200 for two or more. Publicity has been produced by the National Childminding Association (NCMA), which has issued leaflets for its members and parents explaining the scheme, but it is mostly being promoted by the Children's Information Service (CIS). Childminders, particularly those with older children of their own who have the flexibility to care for children in someone else's home, are being urged to contact their local CIS.
Qualifying criteria
Details of interested childcarers are passed on to Ofsted. An Ofsted inspector conducts an interview with the childminder, focusing on the differences between caring for children in the childminder's home and in the family home. Inspectors check that the home childcarer meets 13 criteria laid down in a code of practice issued by the Sure Start Unit, and then issues an approval certificate. The code covers suitability, working in partnership with parents; confidentiality; care, learning and play; organisation; safety; health; food and drink; equal opportunities; special needs; behaviour; child protection; and documentation.
While the home of a childminder undergoes a risk assessment under the Children's Act, it is up to the home childcarer to carry out an assessment of the family home. The NCMA has produced a training workbook to help, which must be filled in within the first six months. An Ofsted spokesman says that at the end of six months, the childcarer will be subject to a further inspection to make sure they are meeting the code of practice.
Charlie Rice, NCMA's director of training and development, describes the workbook as 'a self-reflective process' to help the home childcarer deal with safety issues, negotiate daily routines and keep records.
Ofsted was given powers to approve childminders for the new scheme from 25 March. According to a DfES spokesman, 'Interest in this scheme is growing among both parents and registered childminders, with requests for approval arriving with Ofsted.' However, an Ofsted spokesman concedes that by the end of March it had received a total of only 12 applications nationally and just five had been granted an approval certificate to become home childcarers.
While application packs had been sent to some CISs, others had been told by the inspection service there had been a delay in despatching the packs and they would not be receiving them until the second week of April.
York CIS manager Alison Wadsworth believes there is a strong demand for the new service in the city, 'because we have a low wage, service economy with a lot of employment in the tourism and leisure industries and parents who have to work unsocial hours and shifts'.
But she acknowledges that interest in the scheme locally has been modest, with only a handful of the city's 240 childminders making enquiries.
Margaret Monori, daycare and childminding support officer in Richmond, says she has given Ofsted the names of eight childminders interested in becoming home childcarers. She says this type of care could be particularly appropriate for children with disabilities or where the parents are disabled, and it may also be favoured by families with very young babies.
Charlie Rice says the NCMA is considering operating an information helpline for those interested in the scheme. He thinks it is a natural extension of childminding work 'because childminders have always provided the most flexible form of childcare and on many occasions will have helped out parents in an informal way'.
The 24-hour society
The groundwork for the scheme was laid by a Daycare Trust report produced in 2001 for the DfES entitled Childcare and Atypical Work. It says that the 'realities of the 24-hour society' pose new childcare challenges. Key findings include:
- Almost a quarter of employees work at night and 15 per cent work shifts.
- Extended hours are widespread, with 45 per cent of women working over 40 hours a week and 30 per cent of men working more than 50 hours.
- 61 per cent of working families contain parents employed outside regular 8am to 6pm hours, managing shifts and work during early mornings, evenings, nights and weekends.
The report states, 'Parents are at the heart of this new workforce. Yet there are virtually no formal childcare services open to match atypical hours. Self-selected shift options are rare, with a few exceptional employers trailblazing work patterns that help parents to balance home and working life.' And the reaction from many employers is lukewarm. Alison Wadsworth says that when York CIS approached local hotel and retail businesses to discuss how they could aid retention of staff by addressing childcare issues relating to unsocial hours, they found that employers were not interested.
Nannies and relatives
Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, believes the home childcarer scheme could be a step towards nanny registration and it 'provides the Government with the means to explore that route further'.
Alison Wadsworth defines a home childcarer as 'essentially a nanny who is a registered childminder'. However, she concedes that if parents can afford to hire a nanny, they are unlikely to qualify for the means-tested childcare tax credit.
Nor has the scheme pleased those in the nanny sector. Maggie Dyer, who runs the London Au Pair and Nanny agency, is incensed by it and believes it denigrates the role of nannies. She says, 'The Government is trying to get out of having nanny registration. They refuse to accept the status of nannies despite the fact that our prime minister and his wife have employed one for years.'
While the scheme is currently limited to registered childminders, the DfES states, 'We want to grow the formal childcare sector and are looking at ways to widen entry into the home childcarers scheme to include people who are not childminders. We will consider ways that do not interfere with parents' ability to choose childcare that takes place in their homes, while ensuring that Government funding is only provided where it supports good quality care.' Whether the Government will relent and allow relatives, whom many families depend on for childcare, to join the scheme is uncertain. In the original consultation document, it argued that it would be wrong to interfere in family relationships and subsidise childcare that family members would otherwise provide free.
So for the time being the scheme will be limited to registered childminders. The most likely scenario is that those who opt to become home childcarers will retain their childminding registration, although they are not obliged to, so that they can fulfil both roles. It's called flexibility.
Key features
Home childcarers will be expected to:
- Make sure babies and children are cared for in a warm, stimulating environment
- Organise play and learning activities both inside and outdoors n Prepare children's meals, ensuring specific dietary needs are met
They may also be asked to:
- Take older children to and from nursery or school
- Continue children's established care or health routines
- Work into the evening, or overnight
Home childcarers must:
- Agree a written contract with the family, including the fee
- Carry public liability insurance and make sure existing childminding insurance provides cover
- Keep records of income and outgoings and submit to the Inland Revenue as a self-employed person
Useful contacts:
- Your local CIS can be found by calling ChildcareLink on 0800 096 0296 or by visiting
www.childcarelink.org.uk
- Ofsted information line: 0845 6014771