Children's secretary Ed Balls wrote to Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert last October, asking Ofsted to change immediately the way it regards reciprocal childcare, following the story broken by Nursery World of how two policewomen were banned by Ofsted from looking after each other's children unless they registered as childminders (News, 23 September 2009).
More than 20,000 people signed a petition on the Number Ten website calling for the laws around reciprocal childcare to be changed. A Government consultation on the legislation for reciprocal childcare in December received more than 250 responses, with the majority in favour of amendments.
The Government has only now clarified amendments that will be made to the Childcare Act 2006.
Children's minister Dawn Primarolo said, 'I am pleased that following a positive response to our consultation, and overwhelming public support, friends supporting one another with unpaid childcare will be exempt from the registration and inspection process. This move strikes the right balance between ensuring the quality and standards of formal childcare while protecting informal arrangements between friends.'
Catherine Farrell, joint chief executive of the NCMA, said, 'While we are reassured that the Secretary has recognised the importance of retaining parental choice, this shouldn't be at the expense of quality and safeguarding of children. Proportionate regulation of childcare practice is not only an important part of safeguarding children, for childminders it also plays a role in demonstrating to parents that the setting provides good learning and development opportunities for children. It is important that wider registration and regulation requirements are not undermined.'
