Registration fees too steep, say agencies

Nanny agencies in Scotland are joining forces to protest to the Scottish Executive about proposed charges for registration with the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, which will see larger companies forced to pay more than 2,000.

The Scottish Executive plans to consider all childcare agencies as registered with the Care Commission from 1 April this year, and they will have until 30 September to submit a formal application for registration. This will involve paying a fee, as the Care Commission is supposed to be self-financing, with services carrying the costs of regulation.

A consultation document published earlier this month suggested that the fee for an application to register a small childcare agency should be 1,059 and a larger one 2,559. The proposed annual continuation fee is 642 for small agencies and 2,143 for larger agencies. The fee for cancellation of registration or for a variation of the terms of registration is 244 for all agencies.

A Scottish Executive spokes- person said that a small agency would be defined as employing three or fewer staff, not including childcarers introduced to parents. This definition is open to consultation.

Margaret Davidson, who runs Iona's Childcare in Edinburgh, said, 'This is absolutely ridiculous. There's a few agencies in Edinburgh that are going to be getting together to consider a response. It's very steep.

'I and my partner have six girls working each day on a temporary basis, so I understand we are going to qualify as a large agency. This isn't going to put us out of business, but there does come a point where the costs are prohibitive. There aren't that many nanny agencies in Scotland and competition is healthy, but this might lead to fewer agencies operating. It will also make it more difficult for people to start up childcare recruitment agencies.'

She added, 'I think somewhere in the range of 500 would have been reasonable. I think they're a bit out of touch - they haven't researched nanny agencies' levels of profitability.'

Ms Davidson said that the combination of fees and the new obligations set out in the proposed national care standards for childcare agencies would be a 'huge burden' that might reduce the number of agencies, leading to an increase in the use of unregistered childcare. 'People are going to use carers who have put a card in a shop window, who aren't properly vetted,' she said.

Agencies are also concerned about the prospect of annual fee increases, which may be as high as 10 per cent. Ms Davidson said many agency managers felt the Scottish Executive was approaching the issue of regulation from the wrong end, and should be regulating the carers, not agencies.

The consultation document, 'The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 - Regulation of Care Services by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. Proposals for Maximum Fees to be set by Scottish Ministers for 2003/04' also sets out the proposed fees for childminding and nursery registration, which have increased slightly since last year.

The Care Commission plans to charge 16 to register a childminder or a small-scale daycare provider, with a 13 annual continuation fee, and 146 to register other daycare such as a nursery employing more than three members of staff, with a 113 continuation fee.

Views on the proposals are invited by 7 February.

The Scottish Executive published another consultation last week on the new subordinate legislation which will enable the Care Commission to regulate childcare agencies, which were previously mostly unregistered. Comments on the draft legislation are also invited by 7 February. All the consultations are available on www.scotland.gov.uk .