Childminder Debbie*, from Glasgow, has already lost two children from her service and faces losing a third this summer because her local authority do not contract with childminders to deliver Early Learning and Childcare.
Debbie told SCMA;
“Last summer one of the little girls in my service turned three and her mum, who is a primary school teacher, was keen for her to get her 600 hours entitlement in my service.
“Her mum tried calling the local authority but was constantly being passed from pillar-to-post before she was eventually told keeping her child in my service wasn’t an option. The whole experience left her feeling frustrated and angry that no flexibility is being offered to parents by the local authority.
“Now, after being in my service since she was only one year old, the little girl attends a private nursery that has lower inspection grades [from the Care Inspectorate] than I do.”
Debbie is concerned at the toll this is taking on her business. She said;
“I have to advertise constantly. The whole situation has left me feeling worried and panicky. I’m surrounded by nurseries and it’s becoming very hard to maintain my business.”
Download the 'Early Learning and Childcare: a guide for childminders' using the link below to find out if your local authority contracts with childminders and what you can do if they don't.
*Names have been changed to protect identity.
Associated Document
There is a 190 Kb .PDF
file associated to this document. To download the file please
click here.