Nursery World - Editor's view - Agencies start with a whimper

The new school year is starting with a whole raft of new
initiatives.

The 1st of September saw the introduction of some significant legislative and regulatory changes, plus a new minister to get to grips with the early years brief.

Childminding agencies have officially started - more with a whimper than a bang! However, although their number is small at the moment, some aspects of their regulation are more concerning the more you think about them.

The fact that there is no requirement for an agency to show prospective parents its assessment of a particular childminder is particularly worrying. There will be no independent inspection of the agency childminder for a parent to see, of course, and even if the agency does reveal its internal inspection, it is not an independent view - the agency's income depends on putting as many children as possible with the childminders on its books.

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