Childminder numbers continue to fall

Latest half yearly figures for March to August 2014 show that the number of childminders registered with the inspectorate fell from 53,000 to 51,771.

According to the figures, 2,247 new childminders registered with Ofsted during that time frame but 3,476 left, leading to a net reduction of 1,229 childminders.

Figures for the previous six months, published in May, showed that the number of childminders registered with Ofsted fell from 55,281 to 53,000 between September 2013 and March this year.

Together, the figures show a reduction of 3,510 childminders over the past year.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, is concerned by the continued reduction in the number of registered childminders.

He said: “Childminders play a crucial role in the provision of high quality, flexible early education and care in this country, and yet all too often they are unfairly overlooked and dismissed by both government and Ofsted.

“Add to this the continued uncertainty over the impact of childminder agencies, the decline in local authority support and guidance, and the ongoing lack of adequate free entitlement funding and it is unsurprising that so many childminders are choosing to leave the sector.

“It’s vital that the government recognises the value of the services that childminders provide to children and families and ensures that they are adequately supported – both financially and practically – to continue providing them.”

Liz Bayram, chief executive of the Professional Association for Childcare and the Early Years (Pacey), added: “A healthy and robust childcare sector must offer a flexible choice of childcare settings for parents, and the decline in childminders threatens this.

“The data reveals that the number of childcare places however has increased, most likely as a result of the government’s extension of free early education to disadvantaged two-year-olds.

“Pacey will continue to do all it can do to ensure that local authorities fulfil their statutory duty to provide sufficient childcare places for their local communities, including recruiting new childminders, and provide existing childminders with the right level of support to help them remain within the profession.”