Setting up a parents' committee in the childcare sector
Do you have a childcare centre (daycare or out-of-school care) or a childminding agency in the Netherlands? You must have a parents' committee. The parents' committee gives you advice on the quality of your childcare.
You must set up a parents' committee within 6 months after your registration in the National Childcare Register (Landelijk Register Kinderopvang, LRK). Each childcare location in your organisation must have its own parents' committee. Do you have a daycare and out-of-school care in the same building or in neighbouring buildings? Then you may set up a combined parents’ committee (in Dutch).
Who is in the parents’ committee?
A parents' committee is made up of a number of parents of children in your childcare location. These parents represent all parents of children in your childcare centre or at your affiliated childminders. The children's parents elect the members of the parents’ committee.
Employees with children at your childcare centre or childminding agency are not permitted to become a member of the parents’ committee for that location or agency.
What does a parents' committee do?
You discuss your pedagogical policy at least once a year with the parents' committee. You need to provide the committee with information on your organisation’s quality and financial situation before the meeting. You must also discuss the annual inspection report of the Municipal Health Service (GGD).
The parents’ committee has an advisory right. You must ask the parents’ committee for advice before you decide on any changes to:
- your opening hours
- your complaints procedure
- changes to your pricing
- your regulations for the parents’ committee
The parents committee can also offer unsolicited advice on these topics at any time. You may disregard the advice of the parents’ committee if it is in the interest of childcare. If you do so, you must provide the parents' committee with a written explanation of your decision.
Parents may also keep you accountable for any operational problems. They can file a complaint with the Childcare Disputes Committee.
Parents' committee regulations
You must draw up the parents' committee regulations within 6 months after your registration in the National Childcare Register (LRK). These regulations must at least specify the following subjects:
- the number of members in the parents' committee
- how members are elected
- the members' term of office
The regulations do not contain rules on the working methods of the parents’ committee.
You draw up these regulations at your own discretion. You can use model regulations (modelreglement, in Dutch) from the Childcare Parents Representation Organisation (Belangenvereniging van Ouders in de Kinderopvang & Peuterspeelzalen, BOinK).
Do you want to make any changes to the regulations? You require permission from the parents' committee.
Exemption from parents' committee
If you do not succeed in setting up a parents' committee you may be exempt if:
- your childcare centre hosts at most 50 children
- your childminding agency has at most 50 childminders
You must be able to prove that you have put reasonable effort in trying to set up a parents’ committee. You must also make sure parents are consulted alternatively (alternatieve ouderraadpleging, AOR) on issues on which a parents' committee normally advises (in Dutch). You should be able to prove this upon inspection of your childcare facilities.