Pay

Leicestershire here and £3.25 an hour

I used to pay between £3.50 and £4 when mine were little, and they are in their 20s now. We are in the Midlands.
I do agree with the pp who said you cant take someone on at one price and then suddenly whack up your charges shortly afterwards though.

I would sit and do a detailed breakdown of costs / expenses and what you feel you need to earn (get someone with a bit more experience to help you - our LA had people that would help with business support, or perhaps PACEY or a local CM support group?), then work out what you need to charge per hour (allowing for voids and spaces). Once you've worked that out, then ask around other local CMers - your 'competition'

If you then realise you need to put your costs up a fair bit, then I think you need to be fair to those you are with, and explain you got the costs wrong, and you will obviously honour what you signed forr the next 6 months (or whatever you decide) and totally understand if the families then wish to go elsewhere, but let them know you will have to start charging £4.20ph (or whatever the figure works out at) from 1st Sept this year (or whenever you decide).
If you've done comparisons, then most likely people will stay with you, but they will feel they have been given the chance to change if they want to.

When I childminded in the daytime I was 4.50 ph, that hourly rate was for care only. It did not include food of any sort. Parents brought snacks and lunch boxes. Now I just take to school and pick up. It’s £10 before school and £10 after. Still no food. Purely time.

Itsaboojum makes a good point that we don’t know what is included in the prices quoted above. Food, nappies, outings, activities, holidays, flexibility may or may not be included in the price, which will alter the price.
I do think it is helpful to know what other childcare providers are charging though. A new minder tried to set up in our town and went 50p an hour higher than the next highest priced minder. She couldn’t get children. However I wouldn’t say the cheapest is the best either.
In our town we range between £2.95 (which I think is madness) and 4.50. However for an 11 hour day, I would add a bit on to my normal hourly rate as some of the hours go outside my normal available hours (8-5), so would probably charge £50 for the day (4ph for 9 hours and £7ph for the extra two hours).

Wha you charge should be based on an accurate assessment of the costs of running the business, plus the need to return a realistic level of profitability as, in the case of a self-employed sole trader, profit amounts to your wages.

Yes, what other people charge should be one consideration, but not the be all and end all of the matter. Also bear in mind that the per-hour headline rates quoted throughout this thread do not represent like for like comparisons. They will hide all manner of variation in quality, terms and conditions, extra charges, etc.

No offence, but it drives me nuts that’s CMs are still being encouraged to run their business in such unbusinesslike fashion. There has been a lot of effort made to 'professionalise' the industry, but we are still getting poor training and advice from the very organisations that are supposed to very supporting childcare providers.

Just south of edinburgh, 4.75ph

£60 in SE plus meals

I'm in central London and would pay approximately £60 for 11 hours. Clearly it's very variable as to exactly where you are in central London.

you are not being overcharged in London. there is a supply and demand issue, and also OBVIOUSLY it is a lot more expensive for a childminders to provide this service in London so clearly they need to charge more

And we're in Kent, so although not London, it's a generally expensive area

My toddler is £5/hr (any hours between 7am-6pm) and £2 for all food/drink that day.

I’ve been researching and local to me £4-£5 p/h is the norm inc food etc
Some charge less per hour but then charge for food on top eg £3.50/£3.75 p/h then £5 for food.
This is rural East Mids

£6 an hour here, no meals or nappies
Money well spent

£3.19 an hour here

You can up your rate for new clients and do a contract review in say 6 months if your rate is low in the area.
£10 an hour is unusual but then so is the cost of housing in central London so they are not as well off as other areas charging £5, My area of London is £5 and we really notice that when we go away to visit family in Yorkshire there are a lot more newer cars and everyone seems to have much more disposable income,

Littlemiss do you not have a contract? I’d have thought I’d you’ve both signed a contract giving notice periods and rates, how you cover holiday pay etc you’ll be bound to that. If you don’t have a contract - bloody well get one! You need all of this spelled out in black and white or you’ll end up out of pocket left right and centre.

I really wouldn’t - word will get out that you’ve offered one rate but then put it up very quickly. I’d stick with a rate for at least a year but maybe consider a different rate for the next child you take on?

Well that's the problem right now, if you go back to work then your wages are purely for childcare. There are a few schemes in place for people who are on a low wage, they get 15 hours for free a week or a possible 30 depending on your wage/partner. However if you don't fall in that bracket then you have to suck it up and hand most of your wages over!

£3.50 does seem low. Maybe you should research and try to find other childminder's rates for your area.

You could pay a nanny £10 an hour. I know there is tax ,pension on top but still.

Lulu £10 an hours is crazy, how do people afford to work?

£3.50 seems a bit low but I wouldn’t know the average for Scotland. Are you not in contact with any local childminders.