Assessing Enrolment, Geographical Mismatches And Reliability Of Care Under ECDA Childminding Pilot For Infants

Type: 
Parliamentary Questions
Topic(s): 
Children & Families
Published on 03 November 2026

Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in respect of the Early Childhood Development Agency's Childminding Pilot for Infants (a) how the Ministry assesses enrolment against projected capacity despite registered childminders and families awaiting placement; (b) what measures will address geographical mismatches; and (c) whether operators will be required to provide reliable backup care when regular childminders are unavailable.

Answer:

            The Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) Childminding Pilot for infants was launched in December 2024 to grow childminding services as an affordable, safe and reliable infant caregiving option for parents. As at September 2026, around 130 infants had enrolled and around 230 childminders had registered for the pilot.

2.          Despite having available childminders to meet demand from parents, there are currently around 100 infants on the waitlist. This could be due to a variety of factors, including a lack of childminders in that specific estate, or parental preferences for specific profiles and locations of childminders.

3.          ECDA is working closely with operators to ramp up recruitment of childminders islandwide, with added focus on community outreach and publicity in areas of higher demand. We also launched the ChildminderGoWhere portal earlier this year to facilitate parents’ search for childminders based on location.

4.          Operators are required to ensure that covering arrangements are in place should childminders be temporarily unavailable.

5.          ECDA will continue to work closely with operators on recruitment and publicity efforts, and monitor the take-up of childminding services under the pilot. We also encourage parents to widen their options and consider childminders not just near their homes, but also near relatives' homes or their workplaces, so as to make the best use of available capacity across the island.