Summary of changes
Updated 1 November 2024
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childminder-agencies-inspection-guidance/summary-of-changes
November 2024
The following amendments have been made to the guidance:
- clarified that inspectors will confirm with the agency during the notification call on who is responsible for the nominated individual’s/senior manager’s welfare
- clarified that agencies can request adaptations to the inspection process due to a protected characteristic, or reasonable adjustments due to a disability
- clarified the information that agencies need to send to an inspector following a notice of inspection
- clarified that agencies can contact Ofsted after an inspection if an issue remains unresolved
- updated to include a new childcare provider type, ‘childminders without domestic premises’, following changes introduced by the Department for Education’s EYFS framework
April 2024
The following amendments have been made to the guidance:
- updated text under ‘After the inspection’ to outline the new complaints process
- additional wording under ‘Notification of inspection’ around when inspectors will provide the opportunity to discuss reasonable adjustments
- amended wording under ‘Pausing an inspection’ for clarification
January 2024
The following amendments have been made to the guidance:
- additional text added to the ‘Code of conduct’ section to align with Ofsted’s inspection frameworks
- updated the text about requesting a deferral to align with additional guidance
- changes to the ‘At the start of the inspection’ section to understand who the nominated individual/senior leaders have to support them during or after inspection, and agreeing a process for keeping agency leaders informed of progress throughout the inspection
- new section on pausing inspection
- updated wording under ‘Childminder visits’ to clarify who childcare providers have to support them if necessary during the visit and that they may be accompanied by a person of their choice
- updated wording under ‘Agency staff, discussions and observations to clarify the process for telephone discussions with parents and also how the lead inspector will keep agency leaders informed of how the inspection is progressing
- updated wording under ‘End of the inspection and feedback’ to include who can attend a feedback session and how agency leaders can raise concerns, including safeguarding concerns about an inspector
January 2023
The guidance has been updated to include our approach to ineffective childminding agencies.
June 2021
The guidance is now published in HTML to meet accessibility requirements. The inspection no longer has to be led by an HMI (HM Inspector). The notice period for the inspection is now two days instead of one. The number of childminders sampled is based on the number of childminders registered with the agency instead of always 10% of the number registered.
We have added a template that childminder agencies can use to provide childminder details.