Report calls for overhaul to childcare system

Childcare needs to be overhauled and made it more affordable for families according to a Norfolk MP.

A new report out by Elizabeth Truss for the CentreForum think tank found the average family now spends more than a quarter of their net income (27%) on childcare.

The Conservative MP for South West Norfolk, claims that while the number of nursery places has increased since 1996, the number of childminder places has dropped drastically in the same period to 245,000 in 2010.

The report argues that this has led to price inflation, while at the same time, becoming a childminder is now fraught with red tape.

It calls for childminders to be allowed to take on more children at one time.Under current rules there has to be one minder for every three children aged five or younger, the report claims. This ratio should be changed to one adult for every five children aged five or under, it says.

The report also calls for a single funding system and for childminders to be able to register with a local agency, nursery or network which would take responsibility for inspection and training and be regulated by Ofsted.