Changes to inspection procedures and the decision to relieve Ofsted of responsibility for carrying out Criminal Records Bureau checks on daycare staff from 3 October have provoked a mixed reaction from providers and practitioners.
Some fear that it will leave children more at risk of being exposed to people unsuited to work with them, while others believe that checks now undertaken by three companies contracted to the Department for Education and Skills will be done more efficiently and there will be fewer delays than when Ofsted was directly responsible for them.
Until October, Ofsted judged the suitability of all daycare staff to work with children. But following a three-month consultation led by the DfES, it was decided that this had created an anomaly. While the inspectors decided on candidates' suitability, they did not make the decision about employment, because that was up to the registered provider.
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