Government proposals contained in the Children Bill mean that from next year Ofsted will only have to check a daycare employer's own systems to assess someone's suitability. However, it will continue to access Criminal Records Bureau checks where an employer requires this service, and will still countersign the checks on the employer's behalf rather than for its own regulatory purposes.
An Ofsted spokewoman said, 'The responsibility for carrying out suitability checks on childcare staff is to move from Ofsted to the employer, so that this can be carried out as part of the employer's recruitment process.
Ofsted will check that the employer himself or herself is suitable and has appropriate procedures in place to check the suitability of staff.'
She said the decision to remove the responsibility for suitability checks from Ofsted and put them on to the daycare employer was because there was 'no substitute for good employment and recruitment procedures'. The spokeswoman added, 'At the moment the work is duplicated, with the provider carrying out checks that are then subject to scrutiny by Ofsted, which confirms that the person is suitable. This can cause delay in the employer being in a position to offer a post to these potential employees.
'This should bring no extra work to any good provider, as what is being laid in law should already be carried out by providers.'
The National Day Nurseries Association welcomed the move because some day nurseries had faced a wait of up to six months for Ofsted checks on staff to be completed. Chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'I'm not surprised that Ofsted wants to move away from all these clearances to its core duties. Ofsted is currently only legally obliged to clear a fit person for group daycare and childminding.'
One setting that waited months for staff to be cleared by Ofsted was Rachel's IMPs (Important Mini People) Nursery in Blackpool, Lancashire.
Owner and manager Rachel Howson welcomed the move and said, 'From our point of view, once the CRB check is through, this means the member of staff has been police checked, but then we have to wait for the member of staff to be cleared by Ofsted.
'The length of time we have had to wait is ridiculous. We have had to wait up to six months for staff to be cleared by Ofsted. I have been on maternity leave since December and we are still waiting for Ofsted to do its suitable person check on my deputy.'
But Mrs Howson queried who should have to pay for the CRB check. She said, 'Perhaps the staff member being checked should have to foot some or all of the cost of the CRB check. Then if she works for at least a year she gets given the money back by the nursery.'
Mrs Murphy said it was unfair to place additional pressure on day nurseries to have to carry out these checks. 'It's far too cumbersome to expect individual nurseries and other settings to have to register with the CRB.
There needs to be a separate umbrella body to do this for us.'
She suggested that England follow the example of Wales, where the Wales Council of Voluntary Organisations took over as an umbrella body for all of the country's 30,000 voluntary groups, including the daycare sector, at the start of this year. It has been funded by the Welsh Assembly to set up a criminal records unit that processes criminal record checks on potential employees.
