A few months back there was a new law being proposed whereby anyone caring for a child that wasn't their own would have to face stringent inspections (even friends or family). I signed the petition against this (which I'm sure others here did too) - have just had this in e-mail response from No.10:

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to submit a change in the law regarding reciprocal childcare.”

Details of Petition:

“Imagine this: Two women from the same company give birth at similar times. When their children reach one year old both women wish to return to work on a part time basis. They decide to job share and undertake reciprocal childcare in order to minimise their outgoings and enable themselves to return to work. The children are very good friends and have grown up together as sisters and the two women are very good friends and trust each other to look after their child. However, after a visit from Ofsted they have now been stopped from doing this. The reason? Apparently due to the law concerning childcare, this is illegal due to the fact that they get a reward for looking after the child (i.e. reward = childcare when they go to work!) They have now been forced to put their children into childcare meaning they can’t work as they wished due to the elevated costs. In a day and age when the Government want women to return to work, why is it made so difficult for people? We are asking the Prime Minister to review the meaning of reward in the Children’s Act to money and gifts so reciprocal childcare would be allowed. If you agree, please sign the petition to show your support.”

· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage

The Government’s response:

The Children’s Minister announced on 18 March that, following a positive response to the recent public consultation, she has laid an Order before Parliament to amend the law [the Childcare (Exemptions from Registration) Order 2008] to ensure that all childcare arrangements between friends which are not for monetary payment are exempt from the registration and inspection process. The press notice confirming this announcement can be found at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/Dis....cgi?pn_id=2010_0069 .

The amendment to the Order will be supported by revised Ofsted guidance which will highlight where and when childcare arrangements are considered to be formal and within their inspection remit The results of the consultation can be found on the DCSF’s consultation website at www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations. The changes are expected to take effect from 8 April 2010. 

 

So at least they listen to the public sometimes!