The Department for Education consultation, which closes on 10 May, aims to gather evidence to support policy relating to the recruitment and retention of childminders from childminders, parents, providers, professionals and local authorities.
Proposed changes include local authorities paying childminders their entitlement funding monthly to help with financial management and "giving childminder agencies new flexibilities to enable them to thrive and grow".
The government is also proposing to enable regulated healthcare professionals other than GPs to complete GP health declarations for new childminders in a bid to speed up the registration process.
In last year’s budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced an incentive payment of £600 to first-time childminders, increasing to £1,200 for those who join through an agency, with the incentive called the Childminder Start-Up Grant.
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