Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to set a target for the Childminder grants scheme.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises that registering as a childminder can be costly, and that the cost of registration can be a barrier for some prospective childminders. We are therefore introducing financial help in the form of grants.

The overall budget available for Childminder Start-up Grant Scheme is £7.2 million. This budget would be able to provide approximately 8,500 grants, based on the assumption that 75% of applicants will register with Ofsted and 25% will register with a Childminder Agency (CMA).

The scheme will provide grant funding of either £600 or £1,200 to new childminders upon the completion of registration activities. Childminders can register with either Ofsted or a CMA.

There is no target for this scheme. However, the department’s aim is to increase the number of childminders in the system. As such, our objective for this scheme is to maximise take-up, and thus increase the number of new childminders.