Question about childcare vouchers

[Aleesmum]

Hi,

I'm currently interviewing childminders for DS and I met one who I liked. However she told me that she did not accept childcare vouchers because to accept them she had to be part of a childminding network which meant that she would have 2 checks a week. And since she was new (she has just started her business and has only one child at the moment) this would be difficult to do right away and that she would look at accepting them in 6 months time.

Is this right? Im only asking as I went on the Accor website here to see what was necessary to start accepting vouchers and as far as I can see it just says that you have to be a registered childminder and thats it.

Im not implying that she is lying or anything, I just want to clarify what the rules are so that I can discuss it with her as I really need to use childcare vouchers!

Thanks

I was told that any registered childminder can accept childcare vouchers. I'd be suspicious of this if I were in your position. However, I'm not sure of all the rules of cms.
Does she have an ofsted number?

Hi Starpat, thanks for the reply!
I'm not sure if she has an ofsted number. She did say that she was registered with ofsted and offered to show us her certificate, which she didn't though as we started talking about other things!

But she also mentioned that she would have to get her EY number, hmm maybe she doesn't have one then? Surely everyone who is registered with ofsted gets a number?

I would have thought so... Ask her for her ofsted number (maybe in an email? ). Then check it online? I just barely registered for childcare vouchers and all my cm needed was to be ofsted registered.
If you're registered, you have a number. And any ofsted registered childcare provider can accept childcare vouchers.
I'm sure a cm will be along soon to help. I might be talking nonsense! But I think they should all be able to accept them.

I accept vouchers and you don't have to be part of a network. It can be a pain however, as, if the parent 'forgets' to authorise payment, then I don't get paid on time, but it usually works fine.

It sounds as if she just isnt sure and is just finding her feet.

However, make sure you see her Ofsted registration certificate - which should be on display btw - before you go with her. It's not enough if she is 'in the process' of registering - she is not insured if she isn't fully registered.

If you know her postcode, type it into the 'search' facility on the Ofsted website -it doesn't give personal details but you should be able to identify her from what is on there.

I signed up with computershare vouchers and I just did a thing where the vouchers will automatically go into my cms bank account every month without me needing to do anything (until I want them stopped). That might help make sure she gets them on time?

My parent still has to log on to the system to authorise the payment every month - and that's computershare too. I usually just give a gentle 'nudge' at the relevant date

I think she is mixing up "childcare vouchers" and "nursery vouchers" (which is understandable frankly!).

Childcare vouchers, as you know, are what you get from your employer, and any childminder can register to accept them. The only thing you might need to be aware of is that they may take a little while to 'land' in your voucher account and go out again, so many childminders prefer you to pay one month by cash/cheque in advance so that you are always working one month ahead of the salary deduction (if that makes sense!)

Nursery vouchers are the government vouchers for 3 and 4 year olds which allow them a certain number of free hours childcare / nursery per week. Childminders can accept these but only (I think) if they are part of a network - it's much easier to claim them at a nursery or pre-school.

oh thank you for telling me, underpaidandoverworked! I thought it would do it automatically. I'll just make sure I do it at the same time every month. It's not like it's money that could be mine, anyway as it's pretax money... no use of it sitting in some random account and going to no one!

Oh, perhaps op is talking about nursery vouchers, then.

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies!
Bramshott, I think u r right, she must have thought that childcare vouchers had the same rules as nursery vouchers!

DS is only 11 months, so they r definitely only childcare vouchers!

Thanks a lot, I will speak to her and clear that up, what a relief

Point her in the diraction of the accor website, I except these and its veru easy. I always get the parents to start saving them in advance of starting so you can start paying in advance, I get paid every 2 weeks and it works well.
The parents have to do the transfer on the thursday for it to arrive in my bank the following monday, just reassure her thats what ypou will do, she may not have accepted them before but they are really good.

I accept accor vouchers but did not need to be part of a network.

It was quite easy to sign up.

As you choose childminders you should find one who accepte the vouchers,

If it helps a lot of the vouchers companies do are valid for 12months from date of issue.

I accept, Compushare (busy bees), Accor, Care4 and Fidelity.

All your Cm needs to do is fill in a form with her name, address, bank details and send it back with a copy of ofsted registration cert.

The government free education vouchers are the ones that have to be accredited and part of a network, although I doubt very much that any minder would take them if they got inspected twice a week