The Government has made 1.5m in additional funding available in England, so that the current 300 grant will grow to 600. The start-up grant is to help newly registered childminders in disadvantaged areas with the initial costs of setting up their businesses, including insurance, safety equipment and toys.
National Childminding Association chief executive Gill Haynes welcomed the funding. She said, 'I'm really pleased to see that the Government has released the additional funds for the start-up grant. It is important that in disadvantaged areas people coming forward as childminders get as much support as possible. It can be expensive to meet Government standards.'
However, she called for a firmer commitment on future funding. 'I would like (the Government) to be able to provide assurance that the high level of start-up grants will be a reliable feature of the recruitment scene for the next five years,' she said.
In June, Sure Start team leader Nick Rousseau wrote to chief education officers and partnership chairs apologising for the delay in releasing details of the additional funding.
He said the money would be available through Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships and that the definition of areas of disadvantage for the start-up funding was the same as for Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative areas. He explained that partnerships could use the funding for childminding services aimed at specific groups of parents of disadvantaged children, including shift workers and lone parents, although this should only be a minor use of the grant.
