rickysmiths
31-05-2012, 09:09 AM
I have just got this email from Elizabeth Truss in answer to my original email here in blue her reply below.
I have just received your rep;y to my email. I was assured by a member of your staff that you personally would read and respond to my email. This clearly has not happened because if you had read my email you would have understood that it was in response to your paper and comments made on the radio.
A coherent framework in Britain could be achieved by adopting the agency structure – used in the Netherlands– for childminders. In the Netherlands childminder or ‘host parent’ agencies
operate locally, training and monitoring registered childminders, while parents pay a monthly fee for childminding. An equivalent system in the UK could be based on existing networks, agencies and local authority operations already in existence.
The above model has been shown not to work and the Netherlands are currently deconstructing it so what makes you think it would work here?
In addition nurseries and children’s centres could be allowed to attain academy status, as schools are currently able to. This would mean money currently allocated to local authorities would go direct to academy nurseries.
Why should Privately owned, profit making Nurseries be possibly considered as a route to monitor, regulate or what ever when they are my competitors? How will they remain fair with regard to local childminders? My local Nursery struggles to achieve a Satifactory grading and as far as I can see provides a far inferior and less flexible service than I do. I as I said in my email, have always been graded good and for the last two inspections have gained areas of Outstanding as well. Not all Nurseries are a beacon of excellent care Ms Truss. You only have to look at a few Ofsted reports to see that. I also realise that not all Childminding settings are good. The trouble is that these nurseries are high profile on the High Street and when people like you infer they are better than childminding then parents use them and don’t actually consider fully what their child is actually getting out of being there.
You clearly have no idea what the role of a Childminder is and how they work and have not taken the trouble to find out. maybe it is your researchers who are at fault here? At any rate I would be delighted if you would take the time to actually read my email, do some research, you are welcome to telephone me, I have 18 years experience of Childminding, or indeed come and visit.
Perhaps in the light of some equally ill informed comments Michael Wilshaw, the Head of Ofsted has made regarding Childminding you might like to ask if he would like to visit me with you. It will be a revelation for both of you to see how professional, caring and hard working a childminder can be.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Elizabeth Truss MP
Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
0207 219 7151
Dear Brita,
Thank you for your email. I am very supportive of childminders and concerned that numbers have dropped over the last decade. My proposals are about trying to increase the numbers and attractiveness of the profession and I certainly support training and effective regulation. However, the Government currently spends over £7billion per year on childcare, and I am concerned that some of this is being absorbed by bureaucracy instead of going to actual childcare.
I am not advocating that childminders be forced to care for more children at present or lower their fees. However, I do believe that the child to staff ratios should be changed so that those childminders who wish to look after more children are able to do so. The idea of agencies would mean that a childminder would choose who to affiliate with, whether a network or other organisation or indeed register themselves. Childminders could be self-employed under the agency system.
Regarding the Dutch system I do not advocate wholesale adoption of it, but believe there are interesting aspects that could be usefully applied in the UK. In case you are interested I have reproduced below a full transcript of a recent Today Programme report from the Netherlands regarding the Dutch childcare model.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth Truss MP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could Dutch childcare model work for UK?
The average family in Britain spends more than a quarter of its income on childcare, that is more than almost any other country in the world. You might remember that earlier this week we heard from the Conservative MP, Elizabeth Truss, who had written a paper suggesting that one way to cut the costs is to follow what has happened in Holland where there have been big changes to the system of childcare in recent years. Well, Our reporter Sanchia Berg is there now. Are you impressed with what you’ve seen Sanchia?
Sanchia Berg: Well, John, it’s interesting. I’m here in the centre of Amsterdam in the Vondelpark. The park is busy with cyclists. Some of them taking their young children to nursery or childminders, they’re in those little carriages at the front of the bikes. But what I found was that in Holland, there were reforms that were brought in about seven years ago and they were intended to improve parents’ choice. They did that, but with some unintended consequences as I discovered.
Nellie Bastion: Everyone in Holland has a bicycle.
Sanchia Berg: Nellie Bastion took me to pick up her grandchildren from school in North Amsterdam. She is 79 but she looks after Sebastian who is seven and Babette who is eleven most days. Her daughter is a nurse, her son-in-law a paramedic and they work irregular shifts. The children often sleep at their grandparents’ flat on the third floor of a large modern block. Nellie has looked after her grandchildren since they were born.
Nellie Bastion: After 10 weeks, she must go to work and then I take them.
Sanchia Berg: Before 2005 the Dutch Government only subsidised childcare in day nurseries or after-school clubs. Then they decided to open up the market and subsidise parents’ to use whatever childcare suited them, as governments have done in Britain. That meant that one sector of the Dutch childcare market grew rapidly. Childminders could get Government funding for the first time. They needed to register with an agency who took a slice of a fee. So Nellie could get money for looking after her grandchildren.
Nellie Bastion: I take the money, for I do it and it is a job.
Sanchia Berg: This change meant the number of subsidised places that childminders multiplied. Martin Flyer is Director of childcare at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs.
Martin Flyer: There was a very big increase in childminders from the informal surroundings of the parents. It could be the grandparents or it could be the neighbours. That gave some headaches because the number of childminders exploded and it had a severe effect on the Government budget.
Sanchia Berg: So the Dutch changed the system again two years ago. A childminder has to be qualified. Nearly 40 per cent of the new childminders dropped out, many of them the grandparents. But Nellie chose to train. She is very proud of her diploma in childcare.
Nellie Bastion: Then I have this certificate. I am not a grandmother, I have my certificate.
Sanchia Berg: Yes, you’re professional.
Nellie Bastion: I’m professional.
Sanchia Berg: The new rules gave the agencies more responsibility. Wendy van Lueck is the founder of Flex Motors, a childminding agency.
Wendy van Lueck: We train the childminders to become a childminder. We support the childminders in their daily work, help them with their administration. We do the inspections. We also make sure
that they get the money so we collect the money from the parents and we pay the childminders. And we also make sure the parents have all they need to get the subsidy for the day-care.
Sanchia Berg: Now the Dutch Ministry believes the system will work better. Nellie’s daughter, Mareka, is one of many parents who endorse it.
Mareka: I think that it gives a good choice because it is a stimulus for women to go work because otherwise a lot of women, I think, stay at home.
Sanchia Berg: It has been suggested some elements of the Dutch reforms could make care more affordable for British parents. Everyone I spoke to in Holland said the changes didn’t affect the price parents paid. It brought choice and flexibility. Compared with the UK, the Dutch payment system is simpler. All families get some subsidy and childminders can look after more children at once. If Britain did change its system, Martin Flyer, Director of childcare at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs, has some advice.
Martin Flyer: It’s always a good idea to trust parental choice. I think that has been the driving force in the Dutch system, and it has been a good driving force. The second point is really understand the mechanism of quality and get the regulation right at front.
I have just received your rep;y to my email. I was assured by a member of your staff that you personally would read and respond to my email. This clearly has not happened because if you had read my email you would have understood that it was in response to your paper and comments made on the radio.
A coherent framework in Britain could be achieved by adopting the agency structure – used in the Netherlands– for childminders. In the Netherlands childminder or ‘host parent’ agencies
operate locally, training and monitoring registered childminders, while parents pay a monthly fee for childminding. An equivalent system in the UK could be based on existing networks, agencies and local authority operations already in existence.
The above model has been shown not to work and the Netherlands are currently deconstructing it so what makes you think it would work here?
In addition nurseries and children’s centres could be allowed to attain academy status, as schools are currently able to. This would mean money currently allocated to local authorities would go direct to academy nurseries.
Why should Privately owned, profit making Nurseries be possibly considered as a route to monitor, regulate or what ever when they are my competitors? How will they remain fair with regard to local childminders? My local Nursery struggles to achieve a Satifactory grading and as far as I can see provides a far inferior and less flexible service than I do. I as I said in my email, have always been graded good and for the last two inspections have gained areas of Outstanding as well. Not all Nurseries are a beacon of excellent care Ms Truss. You only have to look at a few Ofsted reports to see that. I also realise that not all Childminding settings are good. The trouble is that these nurseries are high profile on the High Street and when people like you infer they are better than childminding then parents use them and don’t actually consider fully what their child is actually getting out of being there.
You clearly have no idea what the role of a Childminder is and how they work and have not taken the trouble to find out. maybe it is your researchers who are at fault here? At any rate I would be delighted if you would take the time to actually read my email, do some research, you are welcome to telephone me, I have 18 years experience of Childminding, or indeed come and visit.
Perhaps in the light of some equally ill informed comments Michael Wilshaw, the Head of Ofsted has made regarding Childminding you might like to ask if he would like to visit me with you. It will be a revelation for both of you to see how professional, caring and hard working a childminder can be.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Elizabeth Truss MP
Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
0207 219 7151
Dear Brita,
Thank you for your email. I am very supportive of childminders and concerned that numbers have dropped over the last decade. My proposals are about trying to increase the numbers and attractiveness of the profession and I certainly support training and effective regulation. However, the Government currently spends over £7billion per year on childcare, and I am concerned that some of this is being absorbed by bureaucracy instead of going to actual childcare.
I am not advocating that childminders be forced to care for more children at present or lower their fees. However, I do believe that the child to staff ratios should be changed so that those childminders who wish to look after more children are able to do so. The idea of agencies would mean that a childminder would choose who to affiliate with, whether a network or other organisation or indeed register themselves. Childminders could be self-employed under the agency system.
Regarding the Dutch system I do not advocate wholesale adoption of it, but believe there are interesting aspects that could be usefully applied in the UK. In case you are interested I have reproduced below a full transcript of a recent Today Programme report from the Netherlands regarding the Dutch childcare model.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth Truss MP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could Dutch childcare model work for UK?
The average family in Britain spends more than a quarter of its income on childcare, that is more than almost any other country in the world. You might remember that earlier this week we heard from the Conservative MP, Elizabeth Truss, who had written a paper suggesting that one way to cut the costs is to follow what has happened in Holland where there have been big changes to the system of childcare in recent years. Well, Our reporter Sanchia Berg is there now. Are you impressed with what you’ve seen Sanchia?
Sanchia Berg: Well, John, it’s interesting. I’m here in the centre of Amsterdam in the Vondelpark. The park is busy with cyclists. Some of them taking their young children to nursery or childminders, they’re in those little carriages at the front of the bikes. But what I found was that in Holland, there were reforms that were brought in about seven years ago and they were intended to improve parents’ choice. They did that, but with some unintended consequences as I discovered.
Nellie Bastion: Everyone in Holland has a bicycle.
Sanchia Berg: Nellie Bastion took me to pick up her grandchildren from school in North Amsterdam. She is 79 but she looks after Sebastian who is seven and Babette who is eleven most days. Her daughter is a nurse, her son-in-law a paramedic and they work irregular shifts. The children often sleep at their grandparents’ flat on the third floor of a large modern block. Nellie has looked after her grandchildren since they were born.
Nellie Bastion: After 10 weeks, she must go to work and then I take them.
Sanchia Berg: Before 2005 the Dutch Government only subsidised childcare in day nurseries or after-school clubs. Then they decided to open up the market and subsidise parents’ to use whatever childcare suited them, as governments have done in Britain. That meant that one sector of the Dutch childcare market grew rapidly. Childminders could get Government funding for the first time. They needed to register with an agency who took a slice of a fee. So Nellie could get money for looking after her grandchildren.
Nellie Bastion: I take the money, for I do it and it is a job.
Sanchia Berg: This change meant the number of subsidised places that childminders multiplied. Martin Flyer is Director of childcare at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs.
Martin Flyer: There was a very big increase in childminders from the informal surroundings of the parents. It could be the grandparents or it could be the neighbours. That gave some headaches because the number of childminders exploded and it had a severe effect on the Government budget.
Sanchia Berg: So the Dutch changed the system again two years ago. A childminder has to be qualified. Nearly 40 per cent of the new childminders dropped out, many of them the grandparents. But Nellie chose to train. She is very proud of her diploma in childcare.
Nellie Bastion: Then I have this certificate. I am not a grandmother, I have my certificate.
Sanchia Berg: Yes, you’re professional.
Nellie Bastion: I’m professional.
Sanchia Berg: The new rules gave the agencies more responsibility. Wendy van Lueck is the founder of Flex Motors, a childminding agency.
Wendy van Lueck: We train the childminders to become a childminder. We support the childminders in their daily work, help them with their administration. We do the inspections. We also make sure
that they get the money so we collect the money from the parents and we pay the childminders. And we also make sure the parents have all they need to get the subsidy for the day-care.
Sanchia Berg: Now the Dutch Ministry believes the system will work better. Nellie’s daughter, Mareka, is one of many parents who endorse it.
Mareka: I think that it gives a good choice because it is a stimulus for women to go work because otherwise a lot of women, I think, stay at home.
Sanchia Berg: It has been suggested some elements of the Dutch reforms could make care more affordable for British parents. Everyone I spoke to in Holland said the changes didn’t affect the price parents paid. It brought choice and flexibility. Compared with the UK, the Dutch payment system is simpler. All families get some subsidy and childminders can look after more children at once. If Britain did change its system, Martin Flyer, Director of childcare at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs, has some advice.
Martin Flyer: It’s always a good idea to trust parental choice. I think that has been the driving force in the Dutch system, and it has been a good driving force. The second point is really understand the mechanism of quality and get the regulation right at front.