The admission by the independent inspectorate of a 'semantic' legal loophole allowing people to work as unregistered childminders has worried early years organisations. An Ofsted spokeswoman said of the loophole, 'It's a matter of semantics, but it is not technically against the law to work as an unregistered childminder. But once an enforcement notice is issued against such a person, then it is.'
The admission was made after Ofsted's Early Years Directorate prosecuted its first unregistered childminder since taking over the registration and inspection of childcare in England a year ago. On 2 September at Hammersmith and Fulham magistrates court in London, Bernadette Collins of Edith Road in West Kensington was fined 1,500 and ordered to pay Ofsted's court costs of around 1,000 after she pleaded guilty to unregistered childminding.
Mrs Collins had previously been registered with the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, but this was cancelled in August 2001 'because of issues relating to minding in the past,' the Ofsted spokeswoman said. Ofsted inspectors investigated following a complaint made by someone in the area about Mrs Collins minding 14 children and visited her home in April. An enforcement notice was then issued, followed by a High Court permanent injunction against Mrs Collins forbidding her from ever providing childminding services again.
Hailing it as 'a landmark case', the Ofsted spokeswoman said, 'This is the first time we have used the Children Act to prosecute someone who is an unregistered childminder. All unregistered childminders we prosecute will have permanent injunctions taken out against them.'
She added, 'The over-minding of too many children can be a signal of how to tell if someone is an unregistered childminder. Had this woman been registered, it would have been for up to six children, given the dimensions of her premises.'
Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, described Mrs Collins' prosecution as 'very good news' and said that the loophole was 'secondary to the fact that Ofsted was taking action against unregistered childminders'. She added, 'Registered childminders will be heartened by this because it shows that Ofsted will be more pro-active than local authorities in England ever were. In the past lots of registered childminders had repeatedly reported unregistered childminders to local social services but no action was taken.'
The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) welcomed the permanent injunction for all unregistered childminders who are prosecuted by Ofsted, but called for the 'alarming' loophole to be closed. PAT/PANN senior professional officer Alison Johnston said, 'It only serves to strengthen our view that all those working with children should be checked, vetted and included on a comprehensive national register.'
The Ofsted spokeswoman said the Early Years Directorate was 'still getting to grips with the problem' of unregistered childminders and that court action was a last resort. 'We try the "carrot" approach first to invite the person to become a registered childminder. In this case we took out a High Court injunction, which is the first step in an enforcement action. There was no application for registration, so we prosecuted,' she said.
