Ofsted is proposed to register nannies

Last week the child protection charity began looking at whether a UK-wide register of all nannies could be run by Ofsted's Early Years Directorate along similar lines to its registration and inspection of childminders in England. The move followed a meeting last week between the NSPCC and campaigners for a national nanny register.

NSPCC education and employment policy adviser David Coulter said afterwards, 'The NSPCC is happy to argue for a national register of nannies.' He said one of the biggest hurdles to be overcome was changing people's attitudes to the need for such a register. In comparison he pointed out how the charity had long lobbied for an organisation to protect children involved in sport from predatory paedophiles, but it was only after Britain's head swimming coach Paul Hickson was jailed in 1995 after being found guilty of raping and abusing girls he trained that people took its call seriously. The result was the setting up last October of the first UK Child Protection in Sport Unit in the NSPCC offices in Leicester.