Voluntary and Compulsary Registers.

[barbarella68]

I received this morning a letter from Ofsted setting out about the 2 registers that we will have to go on.I will be on both and even though they said that The Department for Children,Schools and Families has not set the fee,this is a lie because on the Ofsted site it says in black and white that Childminders will be £100 and other providers £110,so unfortunately this has made my mind up for me and I will be giving up Childminding.What with all the extra paper work I feel that I am not giving my son the attention he deserves.And I feel extremely cross that I have spent all day and (supposed to be next Saturday) doing my First aid refresher course.
My Ofsted fee is due in July and the letter states the fee will be due on the date I pay my current fee,so does that mean I pay the £14.00 in July then £100.00 in July 2009.Or does it mean £100.00 this July,even though the EYFS doesn't start until September.Sorry to harp on but I am so cross £100.00 is a hell of a lot of money to Childminders.

[sarah707]

Ofsted are saying that fees are not set yet because there will be some grants available via local authorities to help childminders in difficulties...

So if you can show you need help paying, basically, you will be able to apply for it...

As for when you pay, that's not until the registers come into force so you are one of the lucky ones looking at your dates, you might well get nearly a year's grace to save up for the payment ...

Even if we are working with other children, our own are involved in the activities we plan and they are benefitting from having us at home.


Give yourself a break ... we do a hard job but we are able to be there for our children as well... xx

[Mollymop]

Hopefully I will get until January next year until I have to pay the £110 as I only paid them £20 in January.

It states everywhere, even updated records, that the ofsted fee at present is £15 a year, so i am wondering why I had to pay £20? Does anyone know?

[miffy]

No Sandra I don't know why you paid £20 - my renewal was due at the beginning of May and I only paid £15

Unless someone else knows the answer I'd ring Ofsted and query it

miffy xx

[crazybones]

That's strange Sandra. I have to pay mine before the end of the month and its £15.

[Mollymop]

Oh right, thanks, I am gonna ring them tomorrow and ask them. I know it's only a £5 difference, but it's my £5.

May have something to do with being newly registered?

[Jinx]

I paid mine this week oner the phone and it was £15.

Seriously, why is it going up so much? We get nothing, accept inspections, for the £15, so what are we getting for £100. How can they justify this?
Getting angry now....can you tell??????????

Jinx x

[miffy]

I paid mine this week oner the phone and it was £15.

Seriously, why is it going up so much? We get nothing, accept inspections, for the £15, so what are we getting for £100. How can they justify this?
Getting angry now....can you tell??????????

Jinx x

Personally I think they should pay us! I think the rise is just to bring us in line with other child care organisations like nurseries - they just forget that we don't bring in the kind of money a nursery does!

miffy xx

[miffy]

Oh right, thanks, I am gonna ring them tomorrow and ask them. I know it's only a £5 difference, but it's my £5.

May have something to do with being newly registered?

Let us know how you get on Sandra - I don't know if it is anything to do with being newly registered or not

miffy xx

[Pauline]

I've heard that it is "highly likely" that the fees will be subsidised so don't panic just yet!

and if there is no subsidy we can all panic together

[Amaranth]

My hubby just registered and he had to pay the £20. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the extra £5 is for administration costs!!??

[miffy]

My hubby just registered and he had to pay the £20. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the extra £5 is for administration costs!!??

So if £5.00 covers the administration costs why do any of us need to pay more than that???

miffy xx

[Mollymop]

Thanks for that! I guess then it's cos I'm new! Thanks ofsted. Admin costs for what? lol!

[SimplyLucy]

My first years fees were £18 last August so the £20 fee could be right with a £2 increase.

My fees will be due at the end of August again, so hopefully I'll get away with the low fees for another whole year.

The increase is just madness, I know part time childminders and this will be nearly a whole months wage, thats a 12th of their earnings. Just stupid!

[louise]

Ok, Is it only the Voluntary reg that is costing £100? The compulsary one is going to be for0-8's? for which we will just pay our usual Ofsted renewall free for? I don't mind any over 8's so it wouldn't be worth me doing it.

Thanks
Lou

[scottie]

YES I GOT MY LETTER YESTERDAY FROM OFSTED AND I WILL HAVE TO REGISTER FOR BOTH AS FOR THE FEE WELL I HAD READ THAT FOR REG CHILDMINDER THE COST WILL BE £72.00 AND FOR NEW CHILDMINDER £110.00 FROM SEPTEMBER 2008.
IT WOULD BE SAD IF YOU STOPPED DOING THE JOB BUT YOUR RIGHT THE PAPERWORK IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE I AM CONFUSED WITH IT ALL.
HOPE YOU THINK ABOUT IT

[jaja]

why do they have to charge us any more? i got my bill in and its only £15 this year but at the moment i wouldnt be able to afford the extra charge as i havent got many kids at all and that would be more than a months wages at the mo. not good for me...

[Mrs.L.C]

there was a petition being passed on through NCMA news letter and I got a reply back which is below which sounds garbage to me. If I can find the letter I sent I will also post

Childcare Act 2006: Future Approach to Fees and Subsidies

Thank you for responding to the fees consultation. I note that you have chosen to do so by using a letter prepared by the NCMA.

The letter you have used states that the duty on local authorities to provide a range of childcare places for parents will be more difficult to fulfil as a result of the increase in fees and asks us to retain the current level of subsidies for all providers.

We are not reducing the amount of subsidy funding. We are transferring the additional fee income to local authorities as part of their childcare sufficiency funding to help them in their new duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to secure sufficient childcare to meet the needs of parents and children in their area.

We are simply using the proposed new fee structure to move from a blanket national subsidy, paid irrespective of need, to one where decisions would be made locally about how best to use the money in order to support local need. It will be for local authorities to decide how to use their increased funding to support childcare providers but it is tied in to their new sufficiency duty to secure sufficient suitable childcare for parents in their area to work. We will be working with local authorities to determine how local mechanisms will work to ensure a fair distribution of the subsidy but it is parents’ needs which will determine the support given.

Although the percentage increases look very high, the baseline was low with only two small increases in fees since 2001. In actual money terms the increase for the Ofsted Childcare Register in 2008 is £83, which even if the full increase is totally passed on to parents would be an increase in the charge of 53 pence per week per parent, assuming 3 parents used the childminder.

The letter expresses the view that should these proposals come to fruition some childminders would continue to provide care for children aged 7 and under but be unregistered. This would of course be illegal and if found such provision may be subject to Ofsted enforcement action. However, we don't believe that our proposals will encourage childminders to operate outside the law. Assuming that all registered childminders are meeting the demands of parents locally our proposals will ensure that local authorities, as part of their sufficiency duty, will be able to provide a subsidy to meet the continuing costs of registration where it is needed.

We are grateful to you for taking the time to let us know your views.

[Mrs.L.C]

below is the letter many sent in and got the reply above. Can any1 understand why the fees are going up or see where they are coming from?

Childcare Act 2006: Future Approach to Fees and Subsidies consultation

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am concerned about the proposal from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to introduce much higher registration and annual fees for childminders from 2008.

The proposal is to raise the fee for registering on the Ofsted Childcare Register (OCR), compulsory for childminders looking after children aged 5-7, from £15 to £103 from September 2008.

It also proposes to introduce staged increases in registration fees for the Early Years Register (EYR), compulsory for childminders looking after children from birth to 5. This increase will be from £20 in 2007 to £100 in 2010.

There are several reasons that I am concerned by this proposed increase:

1. I run a small business as a childminder and such a huge, and sudden, increase in registration fees will have a significant impact on my business. There are already significant costs to setting up a childcare business and this additional financial burden may put off new childminders, as well as causing existing childminders to consider whether they wish to continue childminding.



2. A large increase like this will force many childminders out of business. With fewer childminders working, the duty on local authorities to provide a range of childcare places for parents will be more difficult to fulfil.



3. Linked to the above is the danger of an increase in unregistered providers, thereby endangering the safety of children and dramatically undermining the increasing quality of registered childminders.



For these reasons I urge you to reconsider your proposals and retain the current level of subsidies for all providers.

Yours faithfully,



<< your name>>

[Wendy Woo]

Let us know how you get on Sandra - I don't know if it is anything to do with being newly registered or not

miffy xx

My 1st payment was only £15 and my next one is due soon only £15 again. Id ring em and get that £5 back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!