Ofsted from inspecting settings within the set timescales.
The move to bring in paid-for inspections was discussed at Ofsted's National Consultative Forum, where the inspectorate revealed the introduction of paid-for inspections has been held up by next year's general election, but that their likely cost would be £1,300 for childminders and £2,500 for nurseries.
It is understood that early years settings with historic 'satisfactory' grades or the new 'requires improvement' judgement that want a paid-for inspection would be prioritised by Ofsted.
Currently, early years settings judged as requires improvement can be left waiting for a year for a re-inspection, potentially locking them out of access to funding for two-year-old places.
While providers and organisations have campaigned for the right to request re-inspections, many are concerned that they could take inspectors away from carrying out their statutory duty, particularly because of reports from the sector that there are still significant delays to inspections.
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