Light touch is heavy going

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

By Judith Hadley, who runs out-of-school, breakfast and holiday clubs in the Bristol area I cannot speak strongly enough for the rights of children to have the best possible care, so I was astounded to hear that the Government is considering the effective deregulation of some childcare, and that nannies and after-school clubs will not need to be regulated. A Treasury spokeswoman said this was 'to make it as easy as possible for carers to be accredited while ensuring the safeguarding of quality', while the Department for Education and Skills said the new 'light touch' voluntary accreditation scheme was being created to give more financial support to parents paying for childcare (News, 25 March).