Unison, the Public Commercial Services Union, and the First Division Association, which all represent early years inspectors, have called for a review of the plans.
They say it could compromise the quality of inspections and demoralise staff who are already involved in a long-running pay dispute over a three-year pay freeze, which is disrupting nursery and childminding inspections (News, 31 July).
The unions said that the plans followed recommendations made in a review by private company McKinsey.
Jon Richards, Unison senior national officer for Ofsted, said early years inspectors carried out 'a vital job, and parents deserve the reassurance of knowing that inspections are done by an independent, reliable and publicly accountable body of staff. This will be severely compromised if inspections are carried out by a private, profit-driven company.
'Ofsted claims it wants to create a single inspections service, yet also wants to privatise a large section of the workforce. How does this fit with Government agenda of closer working across the schools and children's workforce?'
Ofsted said no decision had been taken to outsource routine childcare inspections, but the option was being considered in light of the success and cost-effectiveness of the private sector in carrying out school inspections.
'We need to run the most efficient and cost-effective inspection services possible to ensure that we are providing value for money and making the most of the resources available,' the inspectorate said. 'Although we recognise that uncertainty is difficult for our staff we have to act in the best interest of children, young people and learners in delivering our goal of raising standards and improving lives.'
The National Day Nurseries Association warned that any move to contract out inspections would need to be stringently monitored to ensure the quality of inspections was paramount. NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'Quality of recruitment is vital in ensuring that an inspection is a supportive process that enables a nursery to develop its quality. We would also want to see a clear and transparent complaints process, with Ofsted itself involved from the start, for any complaints.
'With the EYFS and move to self-evaluation, nurseries are already seeing changes to inspections and it is important that if this outsourcing was to go ahead that Ofsted ensure service levels are maintained.'