just seen this

[adele1985]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143992/David-Camerons-plans-scrap-red-tape-bring-childminders.html

[Mouse]

There seem to be two different stories jumbled into one there.

The one about parenting vouchers I saw yesterday, the one about planned changes is, I think, the story about de-regulation. The idea seems to be that if more people become childminders, prices will be pushed down because of increased competition.

There are a few threads on here about writing letters, signing petitions & joining campaigns to fight de-regulation. It looks as if they're more important than ever now :panic:

[Bridey]

I just love the total disregard of the fact that many of us too are working parents and need to make a living! :rolleyes:

[watgem]

i saw it to, is the government expecting us to drop our prices then and take on loads more kids?

[JCrakers]

Business is hard to get at the moment so If more people become cildminders in my town (we have over 30+) then I will go out of business...simples
Plus I wont lower my prices because I work for peanuts as it is..A lot of people wouldnt get out of bed for my wages :rolleyes:

[miffy]

i saw it to, is the government expecting us to drop our prices then and take on loads more kids?

The chair of NCMA board said on Saturday that the Govt seem to think de-regulation of cm's will lead to us being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:

Miffy xx

[AliceK]

Business is hard to get at the moment so If more people become cildminders in my town (we have over 30+) then I will go out of business...simples
Plus I wont lower my prices because I work for peanuts as it is..A lot of people wouldnt get out of bed for my wages :rolleyes:

I worked out that for 4 days this week I am working for below the national minimum wage and that's gross pay. By the time I've taken out food, utilities etc I dread to think what I am earning (or not). There is NO WAY I can afford to lower my prices :angry:

xxxx

[marnieb]

The chair of NCMA board said on Saturday that the Govt seem to think de-regulation of cm's will lead to us being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:

Miffy xx

How?????


We loose payment by tax credits & vouchers, but then we take on more & more kids to make up the shortfall???????

[Chimps Childminding]

I worked out that for 4 days this week I am working for below the national minimum wage and that's gross pay. By the time I've taken out food, utilities etc I dread to think what I am earning (or not). There is NO WAY I can afford to lower my prices :angry:

xxxx

I'm the same 3 days a week the mo!! 1 day I only have a schoolie as the lo I used to have recently left and not been able to fill his space, but schoolie arrives at 7.30 so I have to be up early to earn £5 in the morning and another £5 at night (he's only here for 1 hour either end of the day)!

[The Juggler]

The chair of NCMA board said on Saturday that the Govt seem to think de-regulation of cm's will lead to us being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:

Miffy xx

so the Gov't expect a lower quality, cheaper childcare option then. After all those years of training us to provide quality on a par with everyone else - cheers Tories :rolleyes:

[nipper]

[QUOTE=miffy;1099743] being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:/QUOTE]

and...we would want to do that like a hole in the head:eek:

[Wendybird]

Thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. I'm really on the fence with this one. I'm not entirely against de-regulation for those who only look after a couple of children if I'm honest. I'm not convinced the EYFS adds anything significant to most childcarers' practice. From what I've read, children will hit their development milestones whether we plan 'next steps' or not - children are very clever and generally do what they need to be doing as long as they are in an enriching environment with a responsive adult.

However, I don't see how regulation makes childcare more expensive generally? I suppose we could take on loads of kids for less money, but doubt very many of us would do that. The real underlying affordability problem, in my opinion, is the extortionate cost of housing. Both parents have to work to pay for rents and mortgages that are far, far above what has historically been shown to be affordable (mortgage of roughly 3x salary). Childminders also have to pay high rents and mortgages - we can't generally afford to charge less (obviously some of you will own your homes or have bought before the big housing boom, others will have subsidised housing through housing benefit or LHA or council homes). I wish the government would stop trying to prop the housing bubble, as soon as we get back to historically normal housing costs the sooner our economy will get back on track. £100 vouchers for classes and regulating or deregulating childcare will make very little difference to costs - we all have to put a roof over our heads! Just my mini-rant there ;)

[PerkyEars]

Anyone want to bet that the Powers That Be involved in this have never actually used anything other than a nanny? :rolleyes:

[mindingmummy]

one of the comments underneath the article...

'people that want to look after children to grow them into responsible human beings rather than just for the oodles of cash childminding brings in.'



hmm...im obviously going wrong because im certainly not getting 'oodles of cash'...

[The Juggler]

Thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. I'm really on the fence with this one. I'm not entirely against de-regulation for those who only look after a couple of children if I'm honest. I'm not convinced the EYFS adds anything significant to most childcarers' practice. From what I've read, children will hit their development milestones whether we plan 'next steps' or not - children are very clever and generally do what they need to be doing as long as they are in an enriching environment with a responsive adult.

However, I don't see how regulation makes childcare more expensive generally? I suppose we could take on loads of kids for less money, but doubt very many of us would do that. The real underlying affordability problem, in my opinion, is the extortionate cost of housing. Both parents have to work to pay for rents and mortgages that are far, far above what has historically been shown to be affordable (mortgage of roughly 3x salary). Childminders also have to pay high rents and mortgages - we can't generally afford to charge less (obviously some of you will own your homes or have bought before the big housing boom, others will have subsidised housing through housing benefit or LHA or council homes). I wish the government would stop trying to prop the housing bubble, as soon as we get back to historically normal housing costs the sooner our economy will get back on track. £100 vouchers for classes and regulating or deregulating childcare will make very little difference to costs - we all have to put a roof over our heads! Just my mini-rant there ;)

totally agree- they need to get their priorities in order. So to get economy on track we need to:

make CM's cheaper
take away loads of benefits for poor/middle income familes
take away tax credits
raise VAT
cut public sector budgets/staffing and pensions

and oh... let me think what was the other idea........... let's allow the really rich people to pay LESS tax :panic::angry:

next thing will be a huge payrise for MP's themselves - I'll be first on teh march against that one :angry:

[Mouse]

This is another post I have made about de-regulation.

The articles make interesting reading.

http://childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=101854&highlight=de-regulation

[Carol M]

The chair of NCMA board said on Saturday that the Govt seem to think de-regulation of cm's will lead to us being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:

Miffy xx

:laughing: And yet again our government is waaaayyyy off the mark!
Carol xx
I have just read Jugglers reply...... bang on!! :laughing:

[Wendybird]

totally agree- they need to get their priorities in order. So to get economy on track we need to:

make CM's cheaper
take away loads of benefits for poor/middle income familes
take away tax credits
raise VAT
cut public sector budgets/staffing and pensions

and oh... let me think what was the other idea........... let's allow the really rich people to pay LESS tax :panic::angry:

next thing will be a huge payrise for MP's themselves - I'll be first on teh march against that one :angry:

Absolutely. People just don't seem to see the bigger picture. Childcare costs are expensive and people really notice it. I get that. Childcare costs would be less if parents were able to use less childcare by one parent working part-time or not at all while the kids are young. It isn't an option for most families as the cost of housing is so much - work less and you can't pay your mortgage / rent. This stuff about childcare costs and family values are just a shiny thing the Tories are holding up getting us all to look, while they strip away any chance for most lower and middle class families to ever have a secure standard of living. All the money transfers up to those who pay so little tax and our kids will get to be debt-slaves for all their lives paying for student loans they take out trying to get a 'good job.' Mind you, the housing disaster happened under Brown's watch - Labour is no better IMO. Gah. :censored:

[Mouse]

What I don't get is why all the emphasis is on childminders reducing their costs? In my area anyway, nurseries charge much more than childminders. Why are there no talks of nurseries having to reduce their fees?

I understand that one of the arguements is about the amount of money it costs to regulate childminders, but how does that lead onto childminders having to reduce their fees?

[marnieb]

What I don't get is why all the emphasis is on childminders reducing their costs? In my area anyway, nurseries charge much more than childminders. Why are there no talks of nurseries having to reduce their fees?

I understand that one of the arguements is about the amount of money it costs to regulate childminders, but how does that lead onto childminders having to reduce their fees?

Mouse, I was actually just wondering the same thing as well!!!! If we are to be forced to lower costs, then why is there no mention of nurseries doing the same????

[Wendybird]

What I don't get is why all the emphasis is on childminders reducing their costs? In my area anyway, nurseries charge much more than childminders. Why are there no talks of nurseries having to reduce their fees?

I understand that one of the arguements is about the amount of money it costs to regulate childminders, but how does that lead onto childminders having to reduce their fees?

Exactly. It isn't actually about saving parents money, it is about saving the government money. Reading the other two articles in the other post, it seems they want us to work for agencies who will take 10% of our wages. Not sure how that encourages us to lower costs or, indeed, how CM is meant to attract well-qualified people to the profession. On the other hand, if we all work for an agency, does that mean legally we must be paid above minimum wage (after expenses), with pension contributions and 25 days paid holiday? If so, I'm in ;)

[loocyloo]

What I don't get is why all the emphasis is on childminders reducing their costs? In my area anyway, nurseries charge much more than childminders. Why are there no talks of nurseries having to reduce their fees?

I understand that one of the arguements is about the amount of money it costs to regulate childminders, but how does that lead onto childminders having to reduce their fees?

the only way OUR cost could be lowered would be not have to pay fees to ofsted, but i can't see that helping very much !

[Ripeberry]

Bonkers, bonkers, bonkers! I'd rather keep charging MY prices and have a smaller amount of children than be full to the brim, working twice as hard for the same pay!
Also these agencies, would they MAKE you take on THEIR terms, what if they started to dictate that you have to work all year round and could only take holidays at certain times.
Why should we pay anything to them? :censored:

[Heaven Scent]

The chair of NCMA board said on Saturday that the Govt seem to think de-regulation of cm's will lead to us being able to drop our prices :rolleyes:

Miffy xx

That might have been the case if we had never been inspected under EYFS and had to improve out practice and produce reams of paperwork etc - it will never go back to how it was, so NO we won't ever be able to reduce our running costs and therefore our prices and as others have pointed out work is thin on the ground - sorry Mister(s) Minister(s) Sir(s) we are not a bunch of silly little girlies who won't know what to do or what your game is - you made us professional and professional is how we will be staying !!!!!!

[The Juggler]

What I don't get is why all the emphasis is on childminders reducing their costs? In my area anyway, nurseries charge much more than childminders. Why are there no talks of nurseries having to reduce their fees?

I understand that one of the arguements is about the amount of money it costs to regulate childminders, but how does that lead onto childminders having to reduce their fees?

exactly.and parents WILL use the nurseries as they are ofsted regulated so we lose all ways :panic::panic: it is about saving ofsted money not about providing cheaper childcare

[SYLVIA]

I can't see how CM's cost Ofsted so much. Our fees have gone up over the past years but the amount of inspections we have has gone down and I don't feel Ofsted do an awful lot more for us. I have worked hard to comply with rules and regulations in the last few years and I for one am not dropping prices or my standards!

[watgem]

I love that in the DM article in the comments one person stated we earn £12 p/h!!!!I 'd love to move somewhere where I could charge that lol! I wonder where they got that figure from

[marnieb]

I love that in the DM article in the comments one person stated we earn £12 p/h!!!!I 'd love to move somewhere where I could charge that lol! I wonder where they got that figure from

because as usual, that is before tax (take away 1/3rd) heat, gas, and then food & snacks......

No-one ever remembers that bit!!!!!!

[Wendybird]

I understood the £12 / hour to be 3 children x £4.00 per hour - so her cost was £12 per hour for childcare, not £12 / child / hour! That would be a very good rate indeed :D

[mindingmummy]

Ok, so to be clear in completely dissagree wth de-reglating childminders however...

My thought on it is that they think if we are de-regulated then we would be more flexible on how many children we are able to care for...if we are able to have more children wewouldnt need to charge for holidays, retainers etc...theoretically :rolleyes: