CM Club: CM numbers fall for 7th successive quarter

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And this time by another 700 (it was 340 last quarter). The total fall since the peak in June, 2004 is now 9,100 or just over 12.5%.

Is anyone really surprised?

These figures were collated before the EYFS was implemented so it should be interesting to see what next quarter's figures reveal.

thank you for posting the links to the information. sorry for not replying early i cnt get on here every day lol

i find it all very interesting. round here there is no work, in fact there is so little that dh who is my assistant (giving me 6 under 5 spaces) is having to find another job because we now only have 2 on mon & fri and 4 tue, wed & thur very sadly its not enough to support my family of 5. i wish some minders locally would leave

Re the strange case of the 2 month quarter, Ofsted have given this official reply:

"The latest publication for childcare providers and places published on the 26th September was the final publication relating to the previous early years framework. This gave figures at the 31st of August 2008, the last day of the previous framework. This was the reason for the figures relating to only two months (July and August) rather than a full quarter and it permitted Ofsted to publish the data earlier than it would otherwise have done.

The new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework started on the 1st September 2008. Under EYFS the classification of provider types has changed significantly. We therefore cannot compare provider and place numbers across the two frameworks.

The new publication regarding providers and places under EYFS is currently being developed."

but this answer raises two questions.

Why did it take from 26th September until 5th November for the latest report to be made available on the internet?
Possible answer: Because by then it would be old news and would be less likely to be picked up by the newspapers.

Will the new format for the report still show childminders as a separate entity in their own right?
Possible answer: No. That way the DCSF and Ofsted won't have any more embarassing questions to answer.