AgentTink
15-02-2013, 08:46 PM
I thought since Sarah shares lots of ideas in regards to letter writing on here, which helped me to write my letter, that it would be good for other members to see other peoples letter to help them compose their own. SO here is mine that i sent today:
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP
The Limes, 32 Bridge Street
Thetford, Norfolk IP23 3AG
Dear Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss,
Let me start my letter by detailing who I am.
I am a working mum, who has to balance both childcare and family life. I work 42 hours a week over 4 days. I earn £5.07 per hour, before any expenses have to be deducted. I love my career, and relish being self-employed. I am able to contribute to the household expenses. I provide an important role to the people I work with. I give them the opportunity to also work whilst knowing that their child is being loved and nurtured just as they would if they were at home. Have you guessed what my career is yet?
That’s right I am a childminder working from my own home, juggling both the childcare and learning environment for my own daughter who is three and a half and also two other children who are 12 months and 20 months.
I gained a Good with areas of Outstanding in my first Ofsted inspection even though I had only being working with the children for 10 weeks.
I have over the last few weeks digested all the information that has been released, since the report More Great Childcare was published. I have until now, not wrote to you hoping that more clarity would be given about some of your key policy changes. Instead I am now feeling more confused and more puzzled to how your plans help our country.
I will now outline my concerns and worries.
Sustainability of my role
As you have mentioned numerous times there are issues with availability of childcare. This may be true for some areas but I do not believe this to be true in all areas. I am in Sefton and I recently read their 2011 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, which stated
“The 2011 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment concludes that, for the most part, Sefton has sufficient childcare places available. In some areas there is actually a surfeit of places of available. This is particularly true of the under fives age group.
Statistically, there is very little childcare provision available for older children of eleven years and upwards. However, this is very much driven by market forces and a demand for places has not been identified which would make the provision of childcare for this age range sustainable.” – taken from Securing sufficient childcare (http://www.sefton.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10679)
I therefore am worried that by increasing ratios in Nursery’s you are in effect putting myself and other childminders out of business.
There are currently 56,000 childminders. We all earn a wage, and contribute to our household incomes. As you stated yourself we are a vital source of flexible childcare for parents who do not work normal hours. However if we cannot get enough parental interest in our businesses then we will have to close, leaving even less choice in the childcare market.
Childminder Agencies
You have stated that the reason for Childminder Agencies is to expand the number of Childminders and the amount of care available. As per the reason above will you make sure that these only operate in areas that have low Sufficiency Assessments. If not and they operate everywhere you are then only risking losing experienced Childminders from the profession as there is not enough work to go around.
Another reason that you have stated for the introduction of Childminder agencies is to encourage more people to become Childminders. There is a belief that lots of Childminders left due to the paperwork side of the business, which in part I can agree with. However the biggest paperwork part of the job is delivering the EYFS and all the plans and assessments you have to do to show that you are meeting these criteria’s.
Correct me if I am wrong but a agency would not be able to do this paperwork for you as they are supposed to come from the person working with the child and through observations of the child’s skills, achievements, and with appropriate next steps. The only person who could complete this would be the Childminder themselves.
The rest of the paperwork is not too difficult, if the right training is given, and I believe that this simply could have been done by better Local Authority training packages.
Another area for the agencies is apparently to take away the stresses of advertising your vacancies and getting parents. This leads me onto my next point.
Marketing of Childminders
I believe that the government is doing nothing to help advertise the services of Childminders and most of the time, is actually praising nurseries as the better option.
One of the reason for More Great Childcare was to help make childcare more affordable for parents, however not once has it been mentioned that actually Childminders can often be cheaper than a nursery and offer the exact same care and nurturing environment.
For example I charge £29 per day which includes all food, snacks, drinks and local outings. This is the typical price for Childminders within Sefton. All of my local private nurseries within 2 miles of range from £38 to £42 per day. Their opening hours are less than mine. For my 2 sets of families I save them £30 - £40 per week or put another way £1,560 - £2080 a year.
As a Government who is trying to save money, if one of my families got 70% of their childcare paid for through tax credits then the costs to the Government would be £3166 however this same care at a private local nursery would be £4586.
Why is the government not letting this fact be known? All that is ever in the press from the Government is how on Ofsted’s grades we are scored lower than nurseries.
This may be true on simple facts such as 61% of Childminders obtained a good or outstanding whereas 71% of nurseries obtained the same. But if this broken down another way 39% of satisfactory Childminders deal with approximately 60,000 children, whereas a head count at satisfactory nurseries is almost triple the amount at 170,000 children.
Childminders need the Government’s support to raise our profile. Lots of parents worry about things like that their young child needs to be mixing with 26 other children their own age, when in actual fact lots of studies show that such young children should have a home from home environment to help give them the best start. Other parents worry about leaving their child with a lone adult, but with some simple marketing from the Government they could alleviate some of these fears.
By talking about Childminders and agencies together in the same sentence you are unfairly giving the impression that we are not professional and are unable to cope with the demands of our role. I worry that this persistence for agencies will actually have the opposite effect on the professionalism of Childminders and actually put us as the ‘poor cousin of nursery’s’ hence driving a lot of excellent Childminders away from the frontline.
Cost of Agencies
I will keep this point short and brief. You have stated that these costs will not be subsidised by the Government. Who then will pay for the agency workers? It cant be the Childminders as we already earn less than £13,000. If it were the parents then surely this would just be increasing the costs of childcare for parents? I believe that this question really needs an answer.
Challengers of More Great Childcare
You admit yourself that not everybody is supportive of your report. I think it only right that those people/companies/agencies are also mentioned to help give a rounded view to the public. I will start by naming a few:
NCMA (National Childminding Association),
Pre-School Learning Alliance,
National Day Nurseries Association,
London Early Years Foundation,
Kids Academy,
Mumsnet Users,
Over 50,000 people have signed two petitions in objection to these policy changes in just under 2 weeks. One of the petitions can be found at http://www.keepratiosdown.co.uk/
The Minister’s own child care adviser, Professor Helen Penn has said the plans are “grotesque”,
It was also reported in The Independent recently, a report commissioned by the Minister’s Department, but which has yet to be published, is believed to conclude that these plans will lead to a “deterioration” in the quality of care and will not reduce the costs to parents. When will this report be published to the general public?
The biggest online Childminding Forum, with over 22,000 members, has also made a document called ‘More Great Childcare’ – An Analysis of Government Plan’s written by Childminders. I believe this is something that you should read, as it details our position on your policy, so I have attached a copy to this email.
Holding Meetings with Childminders who are in favour of Agencies
Which leads me onto a meeting that you and your department are currently trying to arrange with Childminders in Northamptonshire. You have asked for only Childminders who are broadly in favour or at least open minded about moving to an agency model to attend. When will you ask for a meeting with Childminders who are not in favour to help you get a balanced view? Or do you not want to listen to the views of many that oppose your plans?
I hope you can see from my letter that I am passionate about my job, and that I do take the time to keep abreast of all the topics that could effect me and my business.
I look forward to your response
Yours,
AgentTink
Ofsted Registered Childminder
Copy to –
Rt Hon Michael Gove
Rt Hon Michael Fallon
Mr Toby Perkins MP
Mr Joe Benton MP
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP
The Limes, 32 Bridge Street
Thetford, Norfolk IP23 3AG
Dear Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss,
Let me start my letter by detailing who I am.
I am a working mum, who has to balance both childcare and family life. I work 42 hours a week over 4 days. I earn £5.07 per hour, before any expenses have to be deducted. I love my career, and relish being self-employed. I am able to contribute to the household expenses. I provide an important role to the people I work with. I give them the opportunity to also work whilst knowing that their child is being loved and nurtured just as they would if they were at home. Have you guessed what my career is yet?
That’s right I am a childminder working from my own home, juggling both the childcare and learning environment for my own daughter who is three and a half and also two other children who are 12 months and 20 months.
I gained a Good with areas of Outstanding in my first Ofsted inspection even though I had only being working with the children for 10 weeks.
I have over the last few weeks digested all the information that has been released, since the report More Great Childcare was published. I have until now, not wrote to you hoping that more clarity would be given about some of your key policy changes. Instead I am now feeling more confused and more puzzled to how your plans help our country.
I will now outline my concerns and worries.
Sustainability of my role
As you have mentioned numerous times there are issues with availability of childcare. This may be true for some areas but I do not believe this to be true in all areas. I am in Sefton and I recently read their 2011 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, which stated
“The 2011 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment concludes that, for the most part, Sefton has sufficient childcare places available. In some areas there is actually a surfeit of places of available. This is particularly true of the under fives age group.
Statistically, there is very little childcare provision available for older children of eleven years and upwards. However, this is very much driven by market forces and a demand for places has not been identified which would make the provision of childcare for this age range sustainable.” – taken from Securing sufficient childcare (http://www.sefton.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10679)
I therefore am worried that by increasing ratios in Nursery’s you are in effect putting myself and other childminders out of business.
There are currently 56,000 childminders. We all earn a wage, and contribute to our household incomes. As you stated yourself we are a vital source of flexible childcare for parents who do not work normal hours. However if we cannot get enough parental interest in our businesses then we will have to close, leaving even less choice in the childcare market.
Childminder Agencies
You have stated that the reason for Childminder Agencies is to expand the number of Childminders and the amount of care available. As per the reason above will you make sure that these only operate in areas that have low Sufficiency Assessments. If not and they operate everywhere you are then only risking losing experienced Childminders from the profession as there is not enough work to go around.
Another reason that you have stated for the introduction of Childminder agencies is to encourage more people to become Childminders. There is a belief that lots of Childminders left due to the paperwork side of the business, which in part I can agree with. However the biggest paperwork part of the job is delivering the EYFS and all the plans and assessments you have to do to show that you are meeting these criteria’s.
Correct me if I am wrong but a agency would not be able to do this paperwork for you as they are supposed to come from the person working with the child and through observations of the child’s skills, achievements, and with appropriate next steps. The only person who could complete this would be the Childminder themselves.
The rest of the paperwork is not too difficult, if the right training is given, and I believe that this simply could have been done by better Local Authority training packages.
Another area for the agencies is apparently to take away the stresses of advertising your vacancies and getting parents. This leads me onto my next point.
Marketing of Childminders
I believe that the government is doing nothing to help advertise the services of Childminders and most of the time, is actually praising nurseries as the better option.
One of the reason for More Great Childcare was to help make childcare more affordable for parents, however not once has it been mentioned that actually Childminders can often be cheaper than a nursery and offer the exact same care and nurturing environment.
For example I charge £29 per day which includes all food, snacks, drinks and local outings. This is the typical price for Childminders within Sefton. All of my local private nurseries within 2 miles of range from £38 to £42 per day. Their opening hours are less than mine. For my 2 sets of families I save them £30 - £40 per week or put another way £1,560 - £2080 a year.
As a Government who is trying to save money, if one of my families got 70% of their childcare paid for through tax credits then the costs to the Government would be £3166 however this same care at a private local nursery would be £4586.
Why is the government not letting this fact be known? All that is ever in the press from the Government is how on Ofsted’s grades we are scored lower than nurseries.
This may be true on simple facts such as 61% of Childminders obtained a good or outstanding whereas 71% of nurseries obtained the same. But if this broken down another way 39% of satisfactory Childminders deal with approximately 60,000 children, whereas a head count at satisfactory nurseries is almost triple the amount at 170,000 children.
Childminders need the Government’s support to raise our profile. Lots of parents worry about things like that their young child needs to be mixing with 26 other children their own age, when in actual fact lots of studies show that such young children should have a home from home environment to help give them the best start. Other parents worry about leaving their child with a lone adult, but with some simple marketing from the Government they could alleviate some of these fears.
By talking about Childminders and agencies together in the same sentence you are unfairly giving the impression that we are not professional and are unable to cope with the demands of our role. I worry that this persistence for agencies will actually have the opposite effect on the professionalism of Childminders and actually put us as the ‘poor cousin of nursery’s’ hence driving a lot of excellent Childminders away from the frontline.
Cost of Agencies
I will keep this point short and brief. You have stated that these costs will not be subsidised by the Government. Who then will pay for the agency workers? It cant be the Childminders as we already earn less than £13,000. If it were the parents then surely this would just be increasing the costs of childcare for parents? I believe that this question really needs an answer.
Challengers of More Great Childcare
You admit yourself that not everybody is supportive of your report. I think it only right that those people/companies/agencies are also mentioned to help give a rounded view to the public. I will start by naming a few:
NCMA (National Childminding Association),
Pre-School Learning Alliance,
National Day Nurseries Association,
London Early Years Foundation,
Kids Academy,
Mumsnet Users,
Over 50,000 people have signed two petitions in objection to these policy changes in just under 2 weeks. One of the petitions can be found at http://www.keepratiosdown.co.uk/
The Minister’s own child care adviser, Professor Helen Penn has said the plans are “grotesque”,
It was also reported in The Independent recently, a report commissioned by the Minister’s Department, but which has yet to be published, is believed to conclude that these plans will lead to a “deterioration” in the quality of care and will not reduce the costs to parents. When will this report be published to the general public?
The biggest online Childminding Forum, with over 22,000 members, has also made a document called ‘More Great Childcare’ – An Analysis of Government Plan’s written by Childminders. I believe this is something that you should read, as it details our position on your policy, so I have attached a copy to this email.
Holding Meetings with Childminders who are in favour of Agencies
Which leads me onto a meeting that you and your department are currently trying to arrange with Childminders in Northamptonshire. You have asked for only Childminders who are broadly in favour or at least open minded about moving to an agency model to attend. When will you ask for a meeting with Childminders who are not in favour to help you get a balanced view? Or do you not want to listen to the views of many that oppose your plans?
I hope you can see from my letter that I am passionate about my job, and that I do take the time to keep abreast of all the topics that could effect me and my business.
I look forward to your response
Yours,
AgentTink
Ofsted Registered Childminder
Copy to –
Rt Hon Michael Gove
Rt Hon Michael Fallon
Mr Toby Perkins MP
Mr Joe Benton MP