Worryingly, more than six out of 10 new childminders were not meeting the national standards on safety when they registered – twice as high as the national average.
This means they were failing to take steps to promote safety and ensure proper precautions were taken to prevent accidents.
A handful also had problems complying with child protection procedures.
These figures fell dramatically during routine inspections but Halton’s childminders are still issued with more actions from inspectors than the national average.
There is provision for more than 4,000 childcare places in Halton.
