According to Department for Education figures, only one per cent of three- and four-year-olds who are taking up a free early education place do so with a childminder. Our annual Building Blocks research of 2,000 early years practitioners shows this is mainly because many childminders view the low funding rate as a barrier.
However, a third of childminders surveyed for Building Blocks said they would like to offer funded hours, with another third willing to consider it so long as it was sustainable. With support, advice and encouragement from their council many could fill vacant places through funded hours.
DfE figures suggest an extra 90,000 places will be needed when 30 hours is introduced for all three- and four-year-olds in England from September. Childminding is part of the solution. With 91 per cent of childminders now rated as "good" and "outstanding", they are ideally placed to help grow the capacity needed to support more families to access their funded hours. But we need to act now.
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