New faces
The appointment of Elizabeth Truss could divide opinion among the early years and childcare sector.
On the one hand the new minister for early years has at least shown an interest in tackling problems to do with the affordability and availability of childcare for families. In fact, you could say she has a keen interest in it.
She has been leading calls for deregulation of childcare, prompting a campaign against them by the National Childminding Association.
Writing in Nursery World in May, she argued for the need for regulatory reform to boost childminder numbers and reduce red-tape for childminders.
‘Despite the Government spending £7bn on childcare, British parents currently pay 27 per cent of their income on childcare. A poorly structured system means that we are not getting value for money, ’she wrote.
She also highlighted the high cost involved in regulating childminders through Ofsted.
Instead Ms Truss advocates an agency model, in line with the Netherlands, where, she said, ‘agencies train and monitor more than 50,000 childminders and nannies, act as intermediaries between parents and childcarers, handling payments and help negotiate the hourly rate.’
An agency model would, she also argues, enable a clearer structure to organise Government funding through tax credits, the free entitlement, and employer childcare vouchers.
Ms Truss is also the author of a report for the think-tank CentreForum calling for major changes to the childcare system in the UK, raising ratios for childminders to 5:1 for the under-fives, as well as an academy status for nurseries and children’s centres.
In fact as far back as 2009, as deputy director of think-tank Reform, Liz Truss was already arguing for deregulation. The report Productive Parents said that the regulation of childcare provision should be reduced, that childcare was costly and inflexible, and that informal childcare had been squeezed out by new regulations.
Demotion for early years?
Whereas Sarah Teather was minister of state for children and families, Liz Truss is parliamentary under-secretary of state, which is a more junior position within the Department for Education hierarchy.
There has been no mention so far of ‘children and families’, although the ministers’ responsibilities and briefs are yet to be officially confirmed by the DfE.
It is believed that David Laws, who has also been appointed a minister within the Cabinet Office, will be a part-time schools minister, focussing on the pupil premium and early intervention.
Edward Timpson, confirmed late on Wednesday as another under-secretary of state, is likely to take on more of the brief held previously by Tim Loughton, focussing on looked-after children and social care. He is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on Adoption & Fostering and on Looked After Children & Care Leavers.
Does the removal of a senior ministerial position signal a ‘demotion’ for children, families and the early years in terms of the department’s priorities, bulldozed by Gove’s school agenda?
All Comments
As a childminder I would like to know how Liz Truss thinks we’ll be able to care for five children under five. I reckon she has eliminated from her brain that we also care for school aged children and take them to and from school. So how does she expect us to transport five under 5s on the school run?! Is she going to buy us all a high tech buggies with five seats?! Ridiculous! Sustainability could never happen for a childminder expected to reduce their fees by having extra children, work themselves to the point of illness and quit because it just doesn’t work out well – neither financially, for their own family or their health. There are so many more things I could say but I feel like we’re fighting a losing battle now she’s been put in the saddle. Shame. Because I love my job, and the more I’m hearing the more I’m tempted to move on to something less changeable.
I am highly flexible and change the child’s hours at a minutes notice if the parent requests it. I am highly educated and have many, many years of experience. Elizabeth Truss wouldn’t work for less than minimum so why should I. People like us are raising the adults of the future and packing them in like battery chickens (which I might add have had a reprieve!) doesn’t make for much time for individual one to one care. School classes are already too high and children in nurseries often only mix with their own age group so childminders offer an opportunity to mix with different age groups, receive love affection and care in a safe environment, learn to have empathy for children of other ages and all in a ‘non clinical setting’. Just what better can you get. People pay more for their dogs to be looked after! Wake up and smell the playdough Elizabeth, people with degrees do not work for £3.50 an hour.
The forerunner of childminding also known as ‘baby farming’ was also not regulated. Childcare was done ‘on the cheap’. Children were open to abuse, starvation, neglect and often drugged to keep them quiet!!
How did they keep costs down? No food or occasional gruel, chalk water not milk, pile them high and drug them so they don’t annoy the neighbours or need playing with.
Should we really be going back to the dark ages?
The Government have a different agenda. Inspection of childminders costs them quite a bit of money and time deregulation would get rid of this. However, it would be a backward step for all concerned. Ms Truss wants affordable childcare, does this mean by deregulating childminders the revenue gained will be put back into subsidising childminders costs per child, so that a reduced fee can be passed onto parents? I think not. Childminders can charge what they like and each county rate is different.
For the children, it is a dangerous game that the government are playing. We work to EYFS welfare requirements, are part of a Network so can offer Free Early Years Entitlement and offer Free Early Education for two year olds. What will happen to the inspection of this. Or do the government just want these children in nursery care without giving a parent choice of provision.
It does seem that the government is on a mission to push early years to the back of its agenda – rather than building on all the progress made over many years and by different governments.
It is very frustrating that we are only being given snippets of information from the government – and that everyone – individuals, organisations, trainers and local authorities are all trying to make sense of.
I understand that even those who meet at the top level with government. don’t know the full picture.
All this uncertainty and the resulting rumours and speculation are causing worry, alarm and huge amounts of stress within the early years sector.
The appointment of Ms.Truss has only added to the concerns of the sector – because we are aware of the ideas she has expressed through her paper ‘Affordable Quality’ but we do not know if these are her current thoughts – or if after further research she now has other ideas.
I understand that Ms.Truss has only just been appointed but it would really help if she or someone else in the government could issue details of the direction they plan to go in – followed by a full and detailed consultation.
Those in the early years sector understand the need to save money from government budgets, and the need to ensure that regulatory bodies are efficient and effective. After all just about everyone within early years from LA’s through to individual childminders (and everyone in between) are having to make those same difficult decisions.
However there is a huge difference – everyone in the early years sector has the needs of the children (both now and for their future) at the heart of everything they do – I wonder if the government and in particular Ms.Truss does.
Until I am told what the governments plans are for the early years sector – I have to hang on to hope that they will ensure that we as a country do not fail to meet the needs of our youngest children.
I also hope that the government will take note of the reject deregulation petition, that I am now leading on – because it is clear now that although the petition was originally set up against deregulation of childminders – we are now facing deregulation of some level for the all early years settings – and those in the sector are the very people who understand the issues and if consulted fully could provide the answers that will meet the governments agenda but also keep children’s needs at the heat of everything we do.
Children depend on us – their future is in our hands.
What sensible comments you are all making – I agree even without the school run, I would not personally, nor expect my colleagues to be able to competently care for 5 children under 5 years of age. Here we go again! more disruption!
i was under the impression that the idea was to raise the profile of the early years. How many graduates are working for minimum wage in other sectors. Indeed how many settings are already only just meeting the minimum standards already set. This seems to be a very dangerous gamble to take with the lives of the children concerned.
It is outrageous to even consider lowering standards and relaxing adult: child ratios in child minding. Any form of childcare and education is a safe guarding issue and there should be no room for loopholes or people slipping through the net. Children have rights too, although this seems to have been forgotten by the government who seem only to be interested in saving money and finding cheaper ways for children to be looked after. It is appalling that anyone would suggest that one adult can properly care for five little children at once – what happens when there is an emergency… I am against deregulation of childminders and in all early years settings too. I think it is safe to say that most of us working with children would agree that Ms. Truss’s proposals are a big step backwards and put children’s welfare at risk. What a shame that after having come to far in recent years in raising the profile of the importance of quality care in the early years, we now have to listen to such nonsense.