The Government is to spend 3.5m, some of which is from the European Social Fund, over two years on bridging grants over a five-week period for childminders in deprived areas. They can apply for the grant only twice in any 12-month period.
The grant will be distributed through local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships after a childminder in a disadvantaged area has had an unfilled place for more than two weeks. The amount they receive will be equivalent to up to 80 per cent of the average local payment per childminding place, up to a 100 per week maximum.
Education and equal opportunities minister Margaret Hodge said, 'Many childminders working in these areas face problems when children in their care move on to school or out of the area. If places go unfilled for too long, many stop childminding and seek alternative employment.'
Gill Haynes, National Childminding Association chief executive, said, 'We cannot afford to lose experienced childminders at a time when more and more parents want home-based care. This welcome assistance will encourage experienced childminders to stay on and provide the continuity of care that parents desperately want.'
But the National Day Nurseries Association said the grant would divide daycare providers. Chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'This short-term strategy will be divisive, creating inequalities and resentment between childminders and other providers in deprived areas.'
