legal age for leaving children at home

I dont have family (other than disabled elderly mother) all my frinds work. My daughter is 10 - The current registerd childcare i have i loose June 2010 - i know quite a bit away yet - i have made enquiries via list of childminders i received from local council - but most only have places for younger children - thought if i could find someone i would change childcare now rather than next year. However so far have drawn a blank in finding anyone.
Im in Scotland so not sure if laws here are different -

for example - if school came out at 3.30 and i had to work until 5 - would i be breaking any law by allowing a child from the age of 11 1/2 the responsibility of being home alone. Same would apply to any school holidays i might not be able to cover.

This is the situation i will find myself in if i cant get registered childcare. All i have found out is that as long as child is not in any danger then its ok - but im sure their must be a legal age. or is it just generally accepted nowadays that if you feel your child is responsible enough then thats fine. I know when i was younger my mum allowed me to do this - but that was quite some time ago.

personaly im not really comfortable with this - but if needs must then i will need to - just trying to think ahead and keep my self covered in case daughters dad tries to complain. If anything were to happen to her while she was alone would obviously be all my fault -

you can get a baby sitter you know ? (although not actually a baby ) maybe you have a friend

seany

Tink

In Scotland, there is no age restriction on leaving your child home alone - its down to parental judgment.

I do sympathise with you, its a tricky call. Personally at 11, I would not be happy at leaving my daughter alone for a period of time - I would be worrying too much. Some 11yos are far more mature than others - which is where the parental judgment comes in.

So, no, you wouldnt be breaking any law by leaving her on her own while you finish her working day - and an hour and a half isnt that long. Ask around for childcare - my childminder wasnt registered, but s friend of the family, who provided a safe, warm, and caring environment for my girls - prehaps there is a mum at the school you know who might be willing to look afer your daughter in exchange for a small fee?

Ruby

you might find this link useful

www.children1st.org.uk/shop/files/SPR-PUB-004.pdf

thanks Ruby and seany - have had a look at the link you sent ruby
Not comfortable at all at the moment - leaving her on her own. But will have problem when current child care runs out. Have tried many of the Local authority registered childcare peeps - but no luck - will keep trying though. Currently we are about 4 miles away from school - family who live doors away moving to USA in June (lucky them) all my friends work full time. Im trying to convince soon to be x husband (who wont help with childcare and insists i work full time) that there is a real need for us to live close to school - I didnt think there was a legal age - Really need registered childcare rather than babysitter so can pay with tax credits - but if nearer school who knows perhaps might have better contact with parents of her friends and we could take it in turns - daughter is quite a sensible 10 year old at the moment - i feel further down the line i could trust her but would feel more comfortable when 13/14 - the hour after school is not so much the problem as my work is currently 5 mins from school just now - its the school holidays that i worry the most about - husband refuses point blank to split between us - 13 weeks in total and he will do 2. Anyway - thanks for the advise

It's a tough one, have you thought about after school clubs? not sure if you can claim for them though.
I have similar issues with school hols, ex doesn't do any childcare.
The childminder I had was newly registered when I found her, through a friend who was a childminder, it's worth asking around, good luck,
Daisygreen

I sympathise with you, I know how hard it is. When my ex and I lived together his salary covered mortgage, council tax, utility bills; my salary covered food, my car running costs and childcare at £240 a month. Then he left in Sept 04 and I had to take over all the bills, the mortgage, my CT (25% reduction) and still pay for everything else I had done before. I quickly ran into negative disposable income straight away.

My daughter started attending the after school club but this stopped as quickly as it started and I had no option than to give her a key and she would let herself in after school. I had 3 sets of neighbours on hand, 2 with spare keys.

I started by leaving her in the house for 1/2 an hour while I nipped out for shopping, then an hour, then an hour and a half, just trying to build it up. Fortunately my daughter is quite mature for her age. I just had to get her in an organised routine. Now I come home and sometimes dinner is on the table!!!!!


I know this is not ideal and it was a situation which I mulled over for ages. I still don't like the thought of her locking the house up for the day but we have our rules and have had no problems at all.