Childcare minister Sam Gyimah has written to warn sector organisations of the Government’s plans to talk about a rise in the annual registration fees paid out by childcare providers.
The current fees that childminders and nurseries pay to continue to be on the Early Years and Childcare Register has not increased since 2010.
At the moment, nurseries (providing childcare on non-domestic premises) and childminders (providing childcare on domestic premises) working together pay £220 annually to be on the Early Years Register, whereas individual childminders pay £35.
In the letter, Mr Gyimah said: ‘I know from meeting many providers that they have faced increases in operating costs and, for this reason, we have resisted any fee increases over the course of the last parliament.
'I remain convinced that Government should continue to subsidise the cost of Ofsted fees paid by childcare providers; but with a growing economy and fee increases across other sectors, we can no longer delay revisiting this area.
‘I intend that any increases will be phased in with plenty of advance notice and still retain a significant element of central government support.’
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