Children: Day Care

(asked on 17th March 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Ofsted report, Childcare providers and inspections as at 31 December 2016, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of the reduction in the number of childminders on the roll-out of the 30 hours childcare entitlement.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 22nd March 2017

30 hours entitlement is already being delivered in eight Early Implementer areas, with over 4,000 parents already benefitting from this offer. Furthermore, four new councils have signed up to deliver 30 hours childcare offer early, from this April, before it is rolled-out nationally from September.

Childminders are a valuable part of the childcare sector and we want to see them play a full role in delivering the 30 hours childcare entitlement. There were 44,000 childminders registered with Ofsted as at 31 December 2016. The total number fell by 700 (1.6%) in the period, but this is a smaller fall than the 3.5% (1,600) in the previous period from August to December 2016. We are pleased that the fall in numbers has slowed, although there is clearly more to do.

In our Early Implementer areas, providers have been able to meet the parental demand for 30 hours, with many childminders working in partnership with other providers to deliver a seamless flexible offer.

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