Housing Sector Urged to Support New Childminding Businesses

By Scottish Childminding Association

The decrease in availability of childcare across Scotland is well reported, but what may be less known is that the reduction in childminders is of particular concern, with figures showing that the workforce has reduced by 34% since 2016 during the expansion of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) – where funded childcare is provided for all pre-school children as well as eligible two-year-olds.

This amounts to the loss of 1,926 childminding businesses and over 11,000 childminding spaces for families. Without urgent action, it is projected this decline will almost double by July 2026.

This is why the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) is leading a targeted recruitment campaign to establish new childminding businesses in areas of Scotland where they are most needed particularly in communities where social, economic, or geographic inequalities are pronounced.

It is also why we are engaging with and appealing to Housing Associations, local authority housing departments and private landlords for positive consideration to support joined-up working to increase childminding provision in areas where they provide rental properties.

Childminding in a rented property

Childminders operate their business from a home setting, providing high-quality, nurturing childcare to a small number of children. We understand there may be hesitation from a landlord if approached by a tenant who would like to operate a childminding business from their rented property. For example, you may be concerned this would result in an increase in cars arriving at the property, higher noise levels or you may be worried about damage to the property.

However, we want to reassure you that this is not the case in childminding, and to highlight that there are many benefits to the wider community in having this form of childcare available locally to support children and families.

Facts about childminding

• As with other childcare providers, professional childminders are registered and inspected by the Care Inspectorate. It is a regulated profession which means that there are strict adult-to-child ratios within the conditions of registration.
• Most childminders are registered to care for no more than six children at any one time (and within this only one child under 12 months, a maximum of three under school-age and no more than six under 12 in total). Due to these ratios and the time of day, many childminders will have fewer than the maximum of six children in their setting at any one time, so it is similar to just having a family living next door.
• Childminders can also be of particular support in low-income communities by both supporting parents into employment and providing access to high-quality childcare which is much more flexible than traditional nursery hours.
• Parents who use childminders also often view them as providing a wider form of family support not available elsewhere.
• The vast majority of childminders are sole workers and due to the small size, childminding businesses can be established in areas where it may not be financially viable to establish larger staffed settings, so this also benefits the wider community.

Childminder recruitment programme

Our childminder recruitment work is delivered through the Scottish Childminding Partnership, which is funded and supported by the Scottish Government along with participating local authorities and agencies.

We are currently targeting a mix of both urban and rural areas, building on the success of the initial pilot and recruitment model that was tested in some of the most remote and rural areas of Scotland.

Anyone who joins the recruitment programme benefits from a fantastic package of support from SCMA, including one-to-one support throughout the registration process, access to a suite of childminder-specific e-learning courses and a business start-up grant.

How can the housing sector and/or landlords help?

As there is an urgent need for more childcare all over Scotland, SCMA is urging landlords to be supportive of requests from tenants to run childminding businesses from their rented properties – it would be a great shame if this form of high-quality childcare was not available locally due to the potential childminder requesting to start their business from their rented accommodation.

We’d like to reassure you that the SCMA team is available to answer any questions regarding requests to start a childminding business from a rental property. 

Further information

For further information on the Scottish Childminding Partnership please visit its webpage or if you have specific queries regarding childminding from a rented property, please email information@childminding.org.