Last week the Education and Skills Select Committee rounded on the Government for singling out childminders as the only form of registered provision allowed to smoke and smack, describing the decision as 'the most controversial aspect' of its national standards for daycare and under-eights childminding in England. It has also recommended that Ofsted publish two studies by December 2003, one on the exposure of children and childminders to tobacco smoke, and the other on the extent of the use of physical chastisement of young children by childminders.
The committee's criticisms are voiced in its annual report on the work of Ofsted, which took over the registration and inspection of childminders in England last year. The report said, 'It remains our concern that smoking causes cancer and heart disease. There is powerful evidence that exposure to second-hand smoke is also harmful. While we would accept that adults should decide for themselves whether or not to smoke, we would support a co-ordinated approach to reducing the harm done to children by tobacco smoke. We regret that the national standards for childminders do not match the standards applicable to other childcare settings in banning smoking in front of children.'
The committee also recommended that Ofsted include in each inspection of a childminder's home setting a 'discussion of the attitude of the child's parents or guardians to exposing the child to tobacco smoke'. Regarding smacking, the committee said, 'We would expect childcare to exclude the physical chastisement of small children.'
The National Childminding Association, whose members adhere to a no smoking or smacking policy, welcomed the select committee's comments. An NCMA spokeswoman said, 'We are pleased that for the second time the Education and Skills Select Committee is recommending that childminders in England should not be given the right to smack or smoke while they are caring for children.'
The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses welcomed the committee's comments, but said it was disappointed that the MPs had not called for a ban on childminders smoking and smacking, which 'contravene children's rights and place them at risk of assault and passive smoking.'
The anti-smoking pressure group Action on Smoking and Health added its voice, saying that children's health was being put at serious risk by the Government's failure to protect them. Last year Margaret Hodge, then minister responsible for early years, told the select committee that 'this is an issue for parents' and the idea that politicians understand child welfare better than parents 'is insulting to parents'.
