23/4/2009 Changes to Individual Learning Accounts

Changes to the Individual Learning Accounts Scotland Scheme which will be available to learners in the 2009-10 academic year mean that up to 250,000 more people can now be helped to develop their learning when changing jobs or facing redundancy.

The changes are:

• the income threshold will be increased from £18,000 to £22,000 with nearly half the adult workforce now employed
• the minimum study requirement for the ILA £500 grant will be reduced from 50 per cent of a full-time course to 40 SCQF Credits
• eligible students studying part-time taught postgraduate courses (SCQF level 11) will be supported through the ILA500 scheme

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop announced the new criteria for the ILAs at a visit to the Open University in Edinburgh.

"Supporting individuals and businesses throughout the current economic climate is a vital component of the Scottish Government's six point Economic Recovery Plan. The changes the Scottish Government have made to the ILA programme are central to providing that support.

"More individuals than ever before will be able to benefit from Government support in developing their skills and undertaking training to help them in employment.

"Increasing the income threshold to £22,000 extends eligibility for ILA support to an extra 250,000 people - covering nearly half the adult workforce.

"This Government fully recognises the pressures on people and fully understands the importance of ensuring people continue to train and develop themselves throughout the current downturn. This will enable the country as a whole to contribute to Scotland's future economic success.

"The changes I am announcing today demonstrate that this Government is committed to doing all that we can to help individuals and businesses through the downturn and ensure Scotland's future economic recovery and growth."

Peter Syme, Director of the Open University in Scotland, said:

"Today's announcement opens up opportunity for thousands more Scots to refresh and upgrade their skills.

"It carries forward and extends a process begun last year to help people in work take up the growing range of part-time learning available in Scottish higher education, including the Open University, without breaking hard-pressed family budgets.

"Especially in a recession, we must as a nation be prepared to support people taking the initiative in preparing themselves for the future and adapting their skills to new circumstances, if we are to be internationally competitive. Particularly welcome is extension of the scheme to postgraduate study, promoting essential higher level skills."

16/4/2009 Babysitting Checklist

Some members have contacted SCMA to find out if our Public Liability Insurance (PLI) covers childminders if they offer babysitting as an additional service. We have worked with the insurer to make sure that this has now been added as an option on your PLI.

Members who have their insurance with SCMA will be covered while babysitting as long as they complete a babysitting checklist, following the guidelines on the checklist, available free to members in the Downloads section of the Members’ Zone.

Babysitting takes place in the children’s home or can take place in the childminders home providing it lasts no more than two hours per day (if it is provided in the childminder’s own home and lasts longer than two hours in any one day then, by law, the childcarer should register as a childminder). There is no legal requirement for care within a family’s home to be registered.

The babysitting checklist should only be used to record arrangements for a babysitting placement. It should not be used in the course of childminding as the document is not a substitute for a childminding contract.

Log in to the Members' Zone now to download your free babysitting checklist!


12/3/2009 Inspection Focus Area 2009/10

The inspection focus area for 2009/10 will be on involving parents in the development and learning needs of their children. There is now comprehensive information on the Care Commission website: www.carecommission.com which includes the questions that will be asked at inspection. There is an additional inspection focus on safer recruitment for those childminders who work with an assistant.

SCMA will produce Briefing Sheets to go along with these inspection focus areas and these will be available to members in the next few weeks.

12|3|2009 Reduction in the Frequency of Inspections

Following a consultation period, in which Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) was involved, the Scottish Government has passed a proposal to reduce the minimum frequency of inspections for childminders who have been registered for over two years and are graded at 5 or 6. The reduced frequency of inspections will allow the Care Commission the flexibility to deliver a more proportionate and risk-based approach to the regulation of childminding; focusing its efforts on care service providers most in need of improvement.

Currently, childminders are legally required to be inspected at least once during the first 12 months following registration, and this requirement will remain. Care Commission policy states that new childminders will be inspected at least once per year in the two years following registration. This policy ensures that new childminders will receive an appropriate level of support from their Care Commission Officer during the early years of their service.

Existing childminders graded at either 5 or 6 will only receive one inspection over a two year period provided their Regulatory Support Assessment (RSA) scores are low and, there is no current enforcement action in place. The remaining services will continue to be inspected at least once per year.

During the consultation period, SCMA arranged a variety of consultation opportunities so our members could voice their opinions on the proposed reduction. One childminder said:

“I feel that bi-annual inspections for those without recommendations or requirements would be great and finally show us that the Care Commission now see us as the professionals we are, who can run our own services without too much interference.”