Hi there,

Has anyone had the Care Inspectorate grant a variation? I am about to submit a variation form requesting to have one extra child a day. The variation form asks have I contacted my council planning department about my request for the variation. Did anyone else who has submitted a variation contact their council's planning department about it?

I remember hearing a childminder local to me saying something about having to pay £400 to the council for her variation. I think she possibly meant the council planning department charged her this £400 rather than the actual variation.

Any advice about how everyone else got on would be greatly welcome. Thanks.

It is always best practice to contact your planning department if you do anything different from standard / normal ratios.

Some LAs require cms to have planning permission - and you cannot increase numbers until it's gone through.

This has been written for England but it's relevant for all countries :D Planning permission rules - ENGLAND (http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/freeresources/Free%20downloads/planning-permission-rules-england.html)

Thanks. I will try to get a chance to give them a phone tomorrow.

Thanks Sarah. I have just got round to phoning them. It will cost £401! Anyhow, they have said I can send in a pre application email/letter and they will have a look at it before I go ahead and spend £400 on something they don't grant!

Your booklet/leaflet is so useful. Thanks so much for writing it and directing me to it.