Speaking during a live question and answer session on Instagram with the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, children’s minister Claire Coutinho said she has been impressed by a scheme in France where childminders work together in this way.
She is looking at how this can be replicated in the UK in a bid to halt an exodus of childminders. Higher salaries being offered by supermarkets and loneliness are cited by Coutinho as key challenges facing childminder recruitment.
'If you think about people who have left the sector a big group by far is childminders,' said Coutinho.
'One reason is you can get really good money by working in retail in places like Tesco’s. That’s attracted people', she added.
'A second with childminders is loneliness. I was looking at different schemes. They’ve got one in France where childminders can work together, not necessarily in their home, but they can work and rent a village hall or something like that, which has been enormously successful. So, I’m interested in that, in how you can deal with the loneliness, because that comes up quite a lot.'
This latest policy idea mooted by Coutinho is part of a wave of Government measures aimed at boosting childminder numbers.
'Streamlined EYFS'
This includes last year’s announcement a new childminder specific early years foundation stage (EYFS) will be introduced, slimming it down by a third to make it more targeted and simpler to navigate.
A DfE spokeswoman declined to comment on whether childminders working together in non-domestic settings will be included in the profession’s streamlined EYFS adding 'there’s nothing more that we can add to what the minister said in that interview at the moment'.
Another Government childminder recruitment initiative announced this year is an incentive offer of £600, or £1,200 for those that sign on with an agency.
This has been introduced as 'some of that upfront cost can be really hard' for those wanting to become a childminder, added Coutinho.
The number of registered childminders has slumped by 46 per cent over the last decade, from 55,600 in 2012/13 to 29,600 in 2021/22. According to Ofsted just 1,500 childminders joined its registers in 2021/22, the lowest on record.