Nannies not just for rich, say campaigners

Childcarers plead to be included in free care plans as they are a ‘credible option for a lot of families’

NANNIES are not just for the wealthy, employment experts have said, as they face exclusion from Rishi Sunak’s free childcare scheme.

The Prime Minister’s flagship policy will offer working parents of two-yearolds 15 hours of care a week from April, while those with children up to the age of four will receive 30 hours a week.

However, the scheme has come under criticism in recent days amid reports that a staffing crisis in the nursery sector, as well as delays to funding packages, risk jeopardising the rollout.

It has emerged that amid the recruitment crisis, a loophole in the scheme means families who employ nannies could be excluded.

The Department for Education (DFE) lists nannies as an approved childcare provider. They are hired on a full or part-time basis by families to enter their homes and help look after children.

Nannies and au pairs are classified as “home childcarers” who look after children in the family home. They can look after children from two different families at the home of one. If they take on a third family they are classed as a childminder and have to register with Ofsted.

Nannies do not have to register with Ofsted, but can voluntarily pay to do so in order for parents to receive help with childcare costs, according to the DFE.

In June 2022, 8,820 nannies officially registered with Ofsted. But according to Statista, an estimated 58,400 nannies worked in the UK in 2023.

Campaigners have said that unregistered nannies should not be excluded from the scheme because they are often a more affordable and accessible childcare option compared with nurseries.

Matthew Mason, the founder of nanny-finding platform Army of Nannies, said: “The question for us is why aren’t nannies included in this proposal, because they are caring for an awful lot of children. I think there’s a big misnomer that it’s only wealthy families that can afford nannies – that’s just not the case.

“Families are making huge sacrifices in order to find the right childcare and actually when you look at the cost of the nursery to the cost of a nanny, if you have a nanny share arrangement, where two families come together and one nanny cares for the children at the same time, those families can share the wage and it can be quite affordable.

“So it’s actually a really credible option for a lot of families, and they’re being excluded from this scheme.”

Nanny employment expert Nannytax campaigns for them to be included in the Government’s free childcare schemes. A statement on its website reads: “Families who hire nannies can already use the Tax-free Childcare scheme towards their costs – providing the nanny is registered with Ofsted – so we see no good reason why the 30-hour free childcare scheme shouldn’t be accessible to these families, too.”

No10 has insisted that the free childcare plan will go ahead in April after it was reported by The Times that delays to funding packages and issues with IT risked jeopardising the rollout.

Asked about the reports, Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, told Times Radio: “Yes, it will go ahead and I am pleased you talked about it as a flagship policy because what we are doing is the biggest reform of childcare that we have seen.

“And we, the Conservatives and the Government, have a plan to enable parents to go back to work, where they want to, to get free childcare.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “As parents would expect, to receive Government funding for early years entitlements, early years providers must be registered with Ofsted or a child-minder agency and meet the required standards.

“We are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver.”