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5. DAY CARE OF CHILDREN
Pre-school Play Groups
Pre-school play groups are now recognised as making an important contribution
to the social education of children and therefore, as well as being the registering
authority under the Nurseries and Child Minders Regulation Act, 1948, the Council
also encourages these groups by financial assistance.
At the end of the year there were 30 play-groups in the borough, which included
9 which were registered for the first time during the year. Of the total, 12 which conformed
to the Council's code of practice were in receipt of a Council grant, this
being one-third of the rent of the premises used, to a maximum of £100 per annum.
Child Minders
A child minder is defined as a person who receives into her home for reward
three or more children of whom she is not a relative, from more than one household
for a substantial part of the day or for any longer period not exceeding six days.
Under the provisions of the Nurseries and Child Minders Regulation Act, 1948, such
a person is required to be registered by the Council. If, after inspection, registration
is agreed then periodic reinspections are carried out at regular intervals. At the end
of the year there were 24 registered child minders in the borough, which included 13
who were registered for the first time during the year.
There are certain aspects of child minding which give cause for concern:
(i) Registration is only required by the Act if more than two children not from
the same household are minded. There would seem to be need for amended
legislation requiring registration of all child minders.
(ii) Minders may fail to notify the Authorities, and parents of minded children
are not, in general, particularly concerned whether the minders are complying
with the law. Illegal child minding is often detected if the health
visitor is already visiting the house to see the minder's own children. If
this is not the case, however, she may be unaware of the situation. Efforts
at enforcing the regulations also often make the health visitor's work more
difficult in a household. Examples are occurring, particularly amongst
immigrant families, of admission being refused to the health visitor who is
too persistent in her attempts to investigate the number of children in a
household.
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