All childminders that are outstanding or good will automatically be eligible for Government funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds, ending the local authorities’ role as ‘gatekeepers’ to the funding, education and childcare minister Elizabeth Truss said.
Currently only 10 per cent of childminders offer funded places.
Ministers say that the change will mean that 80 per cent of nurseries and more than 70 per cent of childminders will be able to access the funding.
The plans are outlined in More Affordable Childcare, published by the Department for Education, and put out for consultation today, alongside a summary of responses to the Childcare Commission.
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