Who Is Minding The Nation’s Childminders?

Independent watchdog the Care Commission holds an annual Forum to address some of the care sector’s biggest issues. This year’s Forum on June 24 is dedicated to improving standards in childminding. Ronnie Hill, Director of Children’s Services Regulation explains why this is so important.

As a parent, there are few moments as troubling as the first time you ever leave your child in the care of a virtual stranger. Yet it is a reality faced by thousands of families every year – so it is vital they know there is someone there to back them up, ensure decent standards and to prevent their childcare choices from becoming a lottery.

As the regulator for all care services in Scotland, it is our responsibility at the Care Commission to make sure all types of services are up to scratch, including nurseries, care homes for older people and childminders.

One of our biggest areas of work is regulating the childminding sector. Often parents choose a childminder instead of a nursery because they want their child looked after in a family home. This means their child is usually looked after by one person on their own.

Clearly, parents place a huge amount of faith and trust in their childminder and it is right they should seek official reassurance that their child is being properly looked after and the care is good.

It is our job at the Care Commission to make sure this is the case by regulating childminders. That means we:
•    Register them to do the job.
•    Inspect them to make sure they are doing it well.
•    Investigate complaints made against them.
•    Take action against them if they are breaking regulations.

Every registered childminder has a registration certificate which they must display. This certificate states the number and ages of children the childminder is allowed to look after.  

For a childminder to become registered, they also have to be assessed and give references. This is a thorough and rigorous process which not only includes a medical reference but also a search to check if they’ve ever been convicted of any offences. Importantly, all other adults living in the house are also checked. The house and garden are also assessed to make sure they are suitable for children.

Once they become registered, childminders are inspected at least once a year.  More and more of these inspections are unannounced with the Care Commission Officer doing a spot check. Most childminders welcome this approach as they believe they provide a good service and inspection by our independent experts is the best way to show this.

The Care Commission will also investigate any complaints made against a childminder. These can be made by anyone, parents, family, friends or neighbours. During 2004-05 we completed 99 investigations of complaints against childminders and, of these, just over half (52.5%) were upheld or partially upheld.

Whether as a result of an inspection or a complaint investigation, the Care Commission has a number of options if we find that things need to improve. We can make a Recommendation to the childminder, which will help them improve their service.  Recommendations are based on good practice contained in the National Care Standards set by Scottish Ministers.  

Sometimes we make Requirements. These state what is legally required and, if a childminder fails to do what is required, we can take legal action against them.

In extreme circumstances, we can close down a childminding service and cancel their registration. In fact, this happens very rarely. Of all the childminders registered – almost 6,000, in 2004-05 – we closed down four because they were providing a poor quality service. This is less than 0.1%.

In all our work, we have a very clear aim and that is to regulate for improvement.  Even very good services can improve further and we want to encourage all childminders to do so.

During 2004-05, we carried out almost 5000 inspections of childminders and made recommendations in 57% of these and made at least one requirement in 21.5%. We also issued legal notices to 189 childminders although 145 of these were because childminders had moved away without telling us or had not paid cancellation fees they owed us.

When carrying out an inspection, we want to know the views of parents and whether they are happy with the service they and their child get from the childminder.  We do this by asking parents to complete a questionnaire and then analyse these to build up an overall picture of parents’ views on a particular childminder.  When we inspect, we can be present when parents are leaving or collecting their children and we will interview them when possible.

To improve the quality of care, we also encourage childminders to undertake training and attend courses on topics which will enable them to do their job better. Many of these are run by local authorities through their Childcare Partnerships.  Other training is provided by the Scottish Childminding Association which is an umbrella body for childminders. The Care Commission works with these organisations to encourage training, development and better practice.

Finally, it is extremely important to stress that most childminders do a good job and the vast majority of parents – 97% according to the latest available figures – are happy with the service their childminder provides.  

The Care Commission will work to ensure that this remains the case and that the quality of childminding services continues to improve.