MPs have said they regret that the government did not ban childminders from smoking in front of children they look after.

And the MPs - on the Labour-dominated Commons Education Select Committee - said smacking should not be a part of good childcare.

However, the MPs have not called for childminders to be banned from smoking or smacking.

Last year the government controversially decided to allow smoking and smacking by childminders - as long as the parents agreed.

Passive smoking

Professionals involved in childcare heavily criticised the government, saying the policy contravened children's rights.

In their report on Ofsted (which regulates childcare as well as schools), the select committee complained children could be harmed by passive smoking.

"It remains our concern that smoking causes cancer and heart disease," the committee's report said.

"There is powerful evidence that exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is also harmful.

"We regret that the national standards for childminders do not match the standards applicable to other childcare settings in banning smoking in front of children."

Research call

Smoking and smacking is banned in daycare settings such as nurseries, creches and out-of-school clubs, or in settings which receive a nursery education grant.

The select committee report called for Ofsted to publish a study on the exposure of children and childminders to tobacco smoke by the end of 2003.

It said in the light of that report, Ofsted should advise ministers on "revising national standards."

The message was similar on smacking. Ofsted was asked to report by the same time on the extent to which childminders were smacking children.