Childminder Recruitment and Retention Consultation

This government is committed to building a strong foundation for every child and supporting working families to access flexible, affordable, and high-quality childcare. This is vital for giving children the best start in life, building a strong economy by allowing parents to enter employment, take on more hours, and have the freedom to choose childcare that works best for themselves and their children. With the cost of living continuing to rise, we are committed to doing everything we can to support families with their finances while keeping people in high-wage, secure jobs that help grow the economy.

In the Spring Budget 2023, this government announced the single biggest investment in childcare ever made in England, and by 2027-28 we expect to be spending more than £8 billion every year on early years education and childcare. We are delivering transformative reforms – including the expansion of our free childcare offer, so that children of eligible working parents can access 30 hours free childcare per week, and new wraparound funding – to ensure high-quality and affordable childcare is accessible to all.

Never has our dedicated workforce of childcare professionals who work with skill and care to provide quality, flexible childcare for families been more important. That is why we have announced ambitious measures to help grow the workforce and are investing £400 million in 2024-25 into the rates we provide to local authorities to fund the entitlements, building on the £204 million we invested in 2023-24.

Childminders are a key part of the early education and childcare market. They offer care that can be tailored to the needs of parents and children. Children enjoy the benefits of being cared for in a nurturing environment, while childminders can work more flexibly and even care for their own children during their working day. Childminders get to be their own boss, running and growing their own business in a rewarding career that is shown to produce high-quality outcomes for children.

The reforms announced in the Spring Budget 2023 are a great opportunity for childminders to thrive in the childcare sector, and we are proud of the successful launch of our childminder grant scheme, which has already started to provide funding for new childminders to start their career journey. But we know there is more to do to support childminders to join and remain in the sector.

That is why we are consulting on proposals to support childminder recruitment and retention and support the role of childminder agencies in the sector. We are seeking views on our proposals, as well as gathering evidence on how we can best support childminders in future.

We look forward to receiving your responses.