HerneHillmum

We have a 17 month age gap similar to you and used a Phil and teds from the day our youngest was born. I loved it, easy to navigate and a easy for them both to fall asleep in all the way up to when your eldest dropped his nap aged around 3. Narrow design was great as easy to get on and off public transport. I?m selling our Phil and teds if you are interested?

Hi yes we do have a permit for her car, as its registered to our address. It's an expensive option I agree. Our nanny does pay for all the petrol however, which I think is a reasonable compromise... Lambeth told me they had completed a review of childcare permits in other boroughs last summer, and having reviewed other boroughs, decided a childcare permit wasn't an option for them. They didn't give any reasons for this, just saying it wasn't a viable option for them at this time. All very frustrating but nothing worse than what I have come to expect of Lambeth I am afraid. if you could find a spare drive that would be an excellent alternative. It would be interesting to know if there are a number of us in this same position (worth posting on the Herne Hill Forum also?) and if there is, it may be worth lobbying our local councillor (can't recall who this is off the top of my head) to intervene. My point all along is its pretty discriminatory to not have any kind of childcare/carer permit particularly when other boroughs offer this as the norm.

Hi LSB - we have exactly the same issue as you. Lambeth have conceded to us, after lengthy conversations that we would be entitled to apply for a business permit for the nanny's car (costing c?600/year - not much difference to a pay/day basis) subject to us producing evidence of her employment with us. In the end we decided it works better for us to purchase a small car for our nanny to drive to and from work, as she regularly uses a car for kids trips, play dates etc and will in due course need it for the school run. It's a real pain I agree, and Lambeth in their usual manner have not offered a particularly effective solution albeit it is one that gives them more money!