§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of planned Ofsted inspections of child minders on the provision of child minding services. [105988]
§ Ms HodgeTransferring the responsibility for child minding and day care regulation to the new and distinct Early Years Directorate in Ofsted will enable the best of the present regulatory system for child care to be brought together with that for nursery education inspections. This will help create greater coherence and integration and will lead to improvements in the quality of child care and early years education services. The new Directorate will deliver its services through a national and regional structure supported by a local presence.
Establishing new national standards will ensure consistency across the country. The present system has led to widely varying interpretations; a national framework delivered at a local level will ensure greater clarity and consistency for providers, including child minders. In addition, local authorities will continue to provide training, guidance and advice to child minders and prospective child minders to encourage them to meet the relevant standards for registration.
Parents will have access to open information from Ofsted reports and this will enable them to make better informed choices. This will ensure that parents have greater trust and confidence in the quality of the child care services available locally.