Parents wanting the information can get a request form from either Ofsted's eight early years regional centres or its website.
The scheme, unveiled at the end of last week, followed the tabling earlier this year of a Private Members' Bill by Geraint Davies, Labour MP for Croydon Central, which called for parents to have access to complaints about prospective carers.
Ofsted said last week it had been legally advised that under Part XA of the Children Act 1989 it was 'likely to be unlawful' to give information about complaints about care providers unless the registered person gave consent.
The only information it can legally publish without the provider's consent is inspection reports and its register of daycare providers in England.
Ofsted's director of early years, Maurice Smith, said the scheme would 'make it as easy as possible for parents to request the information they want within the existing law. We hope any provider will, if requested, agree to give details about complaints to parents looking for childcare.
This will help parents to reach an informed decision on the important matter of where to place their child.'
The move was warmly welcomed by Ken and Libby Osborne, whose son Joshua was shaken to death by his childminder, Linda Bayfield, who had a history of complaints against her that they were unaware of. Mrs Osborne said, 'We are delighted that Ofsted has responded to our request for parents to have access to the information held on file about their childminder. The introduction of this form is obviously just a first step towards total transparency, but it is a very welcome move, and one that will allow concerned parents to check out a childminder fully before employing her, should she wish to co-operate.
'Even if parents suspect that there are no complaints on file, knowing this for sure would give them peace of mind. Had we had access to this type of information our son would be alive today.'
The move was also welcomed by the NSPCC, but it called for the law to be changed to make it mandatory for childcarers to reveal details of any previous complaints if requested. The National Day Nurseries Association also called for the law to be changed so that England was brought into line with Scotland and Wales, where different legislation means that complaints and their outcomes are included in daycare inspection reports.
In Scotland, the Care Commission has a statutory complaints policy that is approved by Scottish ministers. It includes sections in its annual inspection reports that cover any enforcement activity undertaken and detail the number of complaints, the broad areas included and whether they were resolved satisfactorily.
A spokeswoman for the Care Standards Inspectorate in Wales said, 'Our inspection reports provide information on activity within a registered childcare setting since the last published report and it is our policy to include information on completed complaint investigations undertaken by the provider and by the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales. There is at least one announced inspection per year, and more if concerns have been raised.'
An Ofsted spokesman said, 'We are working actively with the Department for Education and Skills on what to do in situations where providers don't give their consent to release the information about complaints.'
The Ofsted website is at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
