Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how many registered childminders worked for a childminding agency in each of the last five years.

The request for an estimate of how many registered childminders worked for a childminder agency (CMA) in each of the last five years has been interpreted to refer to an estimate of how many childminders were registered with a CMA in each of the last five years. This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, as Ofsted produce these figures. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Since June 2022, Ofsted have published the number of childminders registered with a CMA in their official statistics, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics.

The department understands the uncertain circumstances in which Rutland’s providers find themselves and the anxiety that this must be causing, for them and families who may be experiencing some disruption. The department wants to minimise the disruption caused by Rutland’s decision to resign its resignation, and are exploring a number of ways in which to ensure those providers who want to remain registered are able to do so.

The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.