The plan is part of an 'information revolution' promised by the PrimeMinister to help people 'share information and experiences' aboutchildcare, healthcare and police in their area.
In the document Working Together, Gordon Brown said, 'People take it forgranted that they will access other people's reviews and ratings beforebuying something on eBay or Amazon, and yet we do not yet havesystematic access to other people's experiences when choosing a GPpractice or nursery.'
A national price comparison website will be up and running early nextyear, which is to cover 'the full range of childcare providers'.
The site will also give information on quality from Ofsted, and includea message board where parents can give feedback on any provider to helpother parents 'make the best choices for their children, and driveimprovement in quality'.
The National Day Nurseries Association questioned how the pricecomparison website would work in practice. Chief executive PurnimaTanuku said, 'Unless very carefully managed, it will be difficult tocommunicate to parents why prices may differ - for example, if all staffare highly qualified and experienced or the nursery has completed aquality assurance scheme. There is a real danger if comparing prices isthe driver for a parents' visit - this will lead to settings chargingsimilar levels to competitors rather than what is sustainable, andparents basing visiting short-lists on price alone.'
She added, 'Any online forum allowing parents to share feeback will needmanagement and monitoring of content to ensure legal compliance, as itwill be all too easy for a disgruntled parent to post a unfoundedcomplaint.'
- Further information: www.hmg.gov.uk/workingtogether.aspx