Ofsted said on Tuesday that the move would 'ensure the confidentiality and security of childminders and minded children' and that it would not begin putting these details on its website until April 2005 at the start of its next childcare inspection programme.
After this, parents using the Ofsted website to look for a childminder will type in their postcode and be given a list of the registered childminders in their area.
Ofsted chief inspector David Bell said, 'I am pleased to be able to provide parents with more information by publishing childminder inspection reports on the web. I hope it will enable them to make informed choices about the care their child receives.
'We surveyed more than 70,000 childminders and parents to gauge their views before deciding to publish the reports. By publishing the childminder's registration number and part of their postcode, we will strike a balance between protecting children, enabling parents to locate childcare in their area, and reassuring childminders.'
Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, said, 'We are pleased that Ofsted has listened to the views of childminders and parents.' She pointed out that although registered childminders were part of the professional childcare sector, their business took place in their own homes. 'They are not like schools or nurseries, with increasingly elaborate security systems and which close at night.'
But Lynn Daley, NCMA chair and a registered childminder, pointed out that inspection reports were 'only part of the picture' and said that parents should also talk to their local Children's Information Service, visit a number of childminders and take up references before making a choice.
The survey by MORI for Ofsted offered childminders three options - to see Ofsted publish the childminders' inspection reports in full and include their name, address and postcode, but not their Ofsted registration number, known as the Unique Reference Number (URN); to publish inspection reports without the childminder's name and address, but give only the URN and part of the postcode; or to publish the inspection report with only the URN and not the childminder's name, address or postcode. About 33,000 childminders responded to the survey and, of these, around two-thirds voted for Option Two.
Wendy Sadler, a childminder in Sutton, Surrey, who voted for the second option, said she was 'very pleased' with the Ofsted decision. 'Option Two was the most sensible and safest choice of the three. I was not impressed by the other options,' she said.
'I think Ofsted was surprised by the strength of feeling that this issue has raised among childminders. I am very pleased that it has backed down and seen sense. This goes to show that Ofsted should consider childminders' opinions when it comes to making any further decisions that may affect us and should consult directly with us in future.'
The move followed a consultation with all registered childminders after they expressed grave concerns to the NCMA last spring about Ofsted plans to put their personal details on its website. There are currently 70,200 childminders in England.
