Agency's ‘ineffective’ grade puts childminders on alert

• Calls for the childminding agency model to be amended
• Fears that hundreds of childminders are at risk of losing early years entitlement funding
• Up to 7,000 children and their families couldbe impacted by the downgrading of Rutland Early Years Agency by Ofsted

Childminders are calling on the Department for Education (DfE) to amend the childminding agency model to prevent members losing their funding if an agency is rated ‘ineffective’ by Ofsted.

It comes after Rutland Early Years Agency, which has approximately 766 members, was found to be ineffective by the inspectorate in November – leading to a number of childminders having their funding pulled with little to no notice and some taking the decision to close their business.

Registered charity Childminding UK has written to MPs about the impact on childminders when an agency becomes ‘ineffective’, while a group of childminders have contacted the DfE about ensuring equal opportunities for agency childminders and childminders individually registered with Ofsted.

Nursery World has learnt that Middlesbrough Council has given Rutland childminders 12 weeks before withdrawing funding to ‘allow childminders time to register with Ofsted or an alternative agency’. When approached for a comment, the local authority referred to statutory guidance for local authorities that states ‘in the event that a childminding agency gets an ineffective judgement from Ofsted, they should secure alternative provision and withdraw funding as soon as is practicable’.

In some cases, local authorities are waiting until next term to make a decision about funding for childminder members, or once Rutland is re-inspected, which, according to Ofsted guidance, will be within six to 12 months of the date of the ‘ineffective’ inspection judgement.

Childminder members in Sefton Council and Lincolnshire have been subjected to safeguarding and welfare audits in order to retain their funding.

Geraldine O'Neill, sustainability and development manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said, ‘All affected childminders have been requested to complete the necessary training and a safeguarding and welfare audit. The local authority will review a childminder's registration to deliver early years funded education places if these actions are not completed within a three-month period, which is deemed appropriate.’

Sefton Council was contacted for a response, but did not provide a comment.

The Early Years Alliance said it was ‘vital that local authorities clarify as a matter of urgency what the “ineffective” judgement is likely to [mean for] childminders registered with the agency and do all they can to minimise the impact’.

Childminding UK told Nursery World that following Rutland Early Years Agency's downgrading, it received lots of calls from ‘worried’ childminders who wanted to know if they could re-register with Ofsted.

Its operations manager Tina Maltman said the impact of the ‘ineffective’ rating has been ‘huge’, with childminders in 109 local authority areas being restricted or prevented from accepting funded children, some with immediate effect, and others unsure of how long they can continue to offer the entitlement.

How agencies work

Unlike individually registered childminders, those who are registered with an agency do not hold their own inspection grade. When a childminder agency is found to be ‘ineffective’, local authorities have the power to stop members’ funding, as they would if an individual childminder is rated ‘inadequate’. It is down to local authorities’ discretion whether they allow childminders registered with an ‘ineffective’ agency to continue to offer funded hours.

According to Maltman, some local authorities (LAs) are undecided about what they will do with Rutland childminders regarding their ability to provide funded places because it is an ‘unprecedented situation’.

She explained, ‘When an individual childminder, registered with Ofsted, receives an “inadequate” grading, their LA will put in place the measures to prevent that childminder offering funded places. This is likely to affect between two and 12 children. When an agency receives an “ineffective” grade (equivalent to “inadequate”), all the childminders registered with that agency are linked to that same grade and this is why it affects their ability to provide funded places. With over 700 childminders registered with Rutland, this could mean up to 7,000 children and their families affected.’

She went on to warn that there is no ‘fast-track’ registration with Ofsted, so childminders who wish to move their registration from Rutland could be waiting up to 12 weeks, and they may need to get new DBS checks and apply for another GP Health Declaration form, all at an additional cost on top of the Ofsted registration fee of £35 for childminders.

Maltman said it has been suggested that childminders who were members of the agency and now want to register with Ofsted contact their local authority to ask to be permitted to continue to provide funded places until they re-register.

Rutland Early Years Agency, which was established in 2015 and last October formed a partnership with Tiney, another childminding agency, said it had ‘already begun implementing the changes needed to address the concerns outlined in the report’. The agency added that it ‘completely understood why childminders who are faced with losing their funding are now considering re-registering with Ofsted or another agency’.

Concerns raised

The sector has previously raised concern about childminding agencies and the loss of individual childminders’ inspection grades under them. However, the Government has continued to promote agencies, and, under the leadership of Boris Johnson, it was considering whether to make all childminders eventually join an agency.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘Any instance of a childminding agency being rated as “ineffective” will undoubtedly create understandable concern for the childminding professionals registered with them – and in particular, the potential risk of losing early entitlement funding as the result of a situation that is completely out of their control.

‘In such situations, it is vital that local authorities clarify as a matter of urgency what impact the “ineffective” judgement is likely to have on the childminders registered with the agency in question, and that they do all they can to minimise the impact on the care and education that children and families receive.’

Childminders call for change

To protect Rutland childminders and prevent the situation from occurring again in the future with this or another agency, a group of childminders have written a letter to the Department for Education, asking for changes to be made to ensure equal opportunities for agency and Ofsted independent childminders.

The letter also highlights the ‘disparities between agency childminders and those independently registered with Ofsted’, including agency childminders not being able to apply for the free nursery milk scheme.

When contacted for a comment on behalf of the Government and Ofsted, the DfE referred Nursery World to the statutory guidance for local authorities on the delivery of early education and childcare, which it said states that ‘in the event that a childminding agency gets an “ineffective” judgement from Ofsted, they [local authorities] should secure alternative provision’.

CASE STUDY: Rutland Early Years Agency member Sandy Fetters

Sandy Fetters, owner of Edelweiss Childcare, moved to Rutland Early Years Agency in 2019 after being individually registered with Ofsted.

She told Nursery World, ‘I’ve been childminding for six years. I'm a childminder who likes children to have a different experience every day, especially playing outdoors as much as possible. Initially I registered with Ofsted, but after hearing horror stories about inspections, I moved to the agency.

‘I’ve really enjoyed the comradery that being part of an agency brings. Rutland have also been very supportive, always answer any queries and keep us up to date with legislation and changes.

‘So far, the only implication for me off the back of the “ineffective” grading is that I am required to have a safeguarding audit by my local authority. They have said they will review the funding situation in September when hopefully Rutland have had another inspection.’

Rutland Early Years Agency statement

A spokesperson for Rutland Early Years said, ‘We were surprised and incredibly disappointed by this [Ofsted] report, but we respect the outcome and have already begun implementing a detailed plan to address the points raised. We are taking this extremely seriously.

‘It's very important to stress that this report isn't a judgement on any of the individual childminders registered with us. As an agency, we have grown very quickly over recent years and acknowledge that some of our systems and processes haven't kept pace with this growth. We look forward to demonstrating our progress when Ofsted re-inspect in the coming months and we’re confident that this rating will be upgraded then.

‘Right now, making sure that our individual childminders can continue to offer their exceptional services to families across the UK is an absolute priority. We’re proactively engaging with the relevant local authorities to ensure they take practical, pragmatic decisions around funding between now and our next inspection. There is no obligation on local authorities to remove any funding and we hope local decision-makers also put the childminders and continuity of children's care first and take the steps needed to safeguard the funding of these vital childcare places while we await re-inspection.’

Tiney, which partnered with Rutland in October 2022 to ‘offer both communities the best bits of each agency’, said it was also surprised by the outcome of the Ofsted inspection; however, it said it is ‘well placed to offer support’.

A Tiney spokesperson commented, ‘We know that the team at Rutland care passionately about providing children with brilliant early years education and they have worked tirelessly to build a community that can deliver that. All guidance from Ofsted needs to be taken very seriously and we believe the Rutland leadership team has the right plan in place to tackle the challenges this report has raised. Our team is ready to support them in any way we can.’