Childminders are working on

The head of Scotland’s childminding association is reminding people in West Lothian that childminders are allowed to help look after children of key workers.

Graeme McAlister, chief executive of the Scottish Childminding Association, said there had been some confusion about the role of childminders in the current lockdown and wanted to put the record straight.

He said:“At this time a number of childminding settings in West Lothian and throughout Scotland have been allowed to stay open within official guidance to support the national response to Covid-19 by providing critical childcare for key workers’ families and for vulnerable children.

“When the Covid-19 outbreak started in the UK the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) worked very closely with colleagues in the Scottish Government and the Care Inspectorate to keep childminding open as long as it was safe to do so, recognising that when schools and nurseries were required to close, childminding settings may be able to stay open and play a vital role in supporting children and families due to the small numbers in settings and the reduced risk of transmission of infection.

“When these closures inevitably came, initially all childminding settings were able to remain open.

“However, as wider social distancing measures were implemented and the country went into effective lockdown, only childminding settings providing critical childcare for key workers and vulnerable children were able to remain open.

“SCMA has recently produced a poster for members remaining open to support key workers to display in their windows to improve understanding about this and the vital role which local childminders are playing in supporting the national response to Covid-19. Please support them in doing so.”