Nursery World - Minder or nanny?

Nannies should be natural candidates for the home carer scheme - so why don't they sign up? Karen Faux asks In April last year the Government launched its Home Childcarer scheme to bring the UK's 70,000-plus registered childminders closer into the heart of its childcare strategy. It was also responding to demands for a recognition that some parents who worked shifts or had children with special needs required childcare in their own home. But with a total of only 67 home carers having registered so far, the scheme is far from being embraced by the childcare sector.

In April last year the Government launched its Home Childcarer scheme to bring the UK's 70,000-plus registered childminders closer into the heart of its childcare strategy. It was also responding to demands for a recognition that some parents who worked shifts or had children with special needs required childcare in their own home. But with a total of only 67 home carers having registered so far, the scheme is far from being embraced by the childcare sector.

The trouble is that it doesn't go far enough, says the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN). Its complaint is that the scheme excludes the existing home workforce of nannies and fails to take into account their skills and experience. As it stands, there is no compelling reason for nannies to sign up.

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