Childcare providers now have the option to register as
childminders without domestic premises, meaning they can work
solely from somewhere other than a home, such as a village
hall.
Previously, childminders had to register on domestic premises and
spend at least 50% of their time working from a home address. The
government has now removed this limit, but those registered to
provide care at someone's home will still have to spend some of
their time on domestic premises. It will be up to individual
providers to decide how best to split this between
settings.
The total number of people who can work together under a
childminder's registration has also increased from 3 to 4,
allowing providers more flexibility to work with others, such as
co-childminders and childminding assistants.
New guidance, published today, explains how these changes will
impact on childcare providers and how to register under the new
provider type.
Read the guidance on how to ‘Register as
a childminder without domestic premises'.
Providers already registered as childcare on domestic premises
can continue to operate with a minimum of 4 people working
together, but from 1 November 2024 new applications for this type
of provision will need a minimum of 5 people.
If you are already a registered childcare provider and don't want
to change the way you operate, you don't need to do anything.
