Financial support of up to £210 a week to help pay for nannies will be available through the tax credits system from next April.

Children’s minister Margaret Hodge announced at the annual Sure Start Conference that, under a new Childcare Approval Scheme, families on incomes of up to £59,000 will be eligible for working tax credit in respect of childcare provided in their own home.

Nannies will be required to pass a series of checks to gain approval for the scheme. Guidance for parents and applicants for approval has been published on the Sure Start website.

The scheme will provide recognised national status for individuals providing childcare that is “not otherwise [subject to registration] and is provided in the child’s own home or, for children aged over seven, on other domestic premises.”

The scheme will be provided by Nestor Primecare Services Limited, which will be known as the Approval Body and has set up a national helpline on 0845 7678 111.

An applicant must be at least 18 years old and provide evidence that he or she:

• Has a relevant qualification or has attended an approved induction course in childcare;
• Has a recent first aid certificate relevant to the care of babies and children; and
• Has “nothing in their background that makes them unsuitable to care for children” – this will involve an “enhanced disclosure check” from the Criminal Records Bureau.

Applications will be accepted from 4 January 2005, and a fee of £96 including VAT will be payable to cover the cost of the CRB disclosure and administration.

Hodge said: “The Government’s 10 year childcare strategy is nothing short of a childcare revolution which provides real choice for parents and real life chances for children. Historically parents have struggled to secure high quality, affordable childcare, but our strategy is putting childcare at the heart of the modern welfare state for the 21st century.

“By providing quality, accessible and affordable childcare that is available to parents when and where they need it, we are creating the conditions for children to develop, parents to work, train or access education, and for families and communities to escape poverty.

“The Childcare Approval Scheme is an essential element of our offer to families. It will give long awaited recognition to nannies for their hard work, while helping to make childcare truly affordable for more families. The Scheme will also provide added surety to parents in the difficult process of selecting someone to look after what is most precious to them – their child.”

The Guardian quoted Anne Longfield of the childcare campaign group ‘4Children’ as saying: “There is a real need for this help among hundreds of thousands of parents, but in the past they have just clunked around the system. Parents want childcare in the home because they feel more secure, they don’t want to move their children around, and they can’t find care outside that fits in with their hours.”

Last week’s pre-budget report included an increase in the limits for the childcare element of working tax credit. From April 2005, the maximum eligible costs will be £300 a week (£175 for one child). The maximum proportion of costs that can be claimed will rise from 70% to 80% in April 2006.