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Ofsted Says Babysitters Need To Register As Childminders

AnonyMouse_13453

By AnonyMouse_13453
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its to do with hours isnt it? But what if a family member looks after your child for more than the recommended hours? If I was them I would BRIEFLY leave my child with a relative who would then take the child to the colleague, one step removed! OOh!

 

This is just another money making scam - registration fees etc, annually!Tax on working parents.

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this is just absurd!!! i think the world has going mad Sunnyday or should i say Labour. They are making it even harder for working mums who need to go back to work so have friends help them out because they can't afford nursery/child care/after school clubs and these are the mums who do not get any help from the government for childcare expenses because are all in the next bracket so do not get working tax credit ahhhhhhhhh

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Next they will be saying that parents need to be OFSTEDed to have a childs friend round for tea! That can be 2 hours easily :o . What is the world coming to?

What about school holiday care? My sschool woud not be able to cope with the extra demand for out of school club!

My mum had the same arrangement with her neighbour when i was little that these 2 police women had!

Makes me mad xD

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The world has surely gone mad. To say that even though no money changes hands they get a reward of being able to go to work, beggars belief. Years ago I used to have my friend's son before and after school because she taught at a secondary school in the next town. I know that lots of mums at our school do favours for friends and are getting concerned.

 

Mary

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It does seem harsh, I know of many parents who help each other out with childcare - particularly those who work part-time or are single parents. If they had to pay childminding costs there would be no point returning to work! It really is a case of they'd be better off not working and going on benefits!

 

The policewomen who have been reported COULD have carried on, without interference, if they'd looked after the child in the child's own home :o

 

One of the strange little quirks of the laws relating to childminding!!

 

Nona

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AnonyMouse_8466 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_8466

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The policewomen who have been reported COULD have carried on, without interference, if they'd looked after the child in the child's own home :o

Quite.

 

I wonder if there was any discretion allowed on the part of the inspector that day she came knocking to make a judgement or whether the law is very explicit that whatever the circumstances, a person looking after another child on their own premises is deemed to be childminding? Someone must have complained to Ofsted about this - presumably Ofsted inspectors don't routinely knock on strange front doors on the offchance some illegal childminding might be going on.

 

I can imagine the outcry if a child was maltreated or otherwise harmed whilst being looked after as part of this kind of informal arrangement between friends, and it later emerged that Ofsted had paid a visit and had taken no action to uphold the law, if indeed there is no room for discretion.

 

I hear that a Children's Minister (who I had never heard of!) has called for this case to be reviewed, so perhaps all will become clear in due course. However it does seem as if some wording in the Act of Parliament has had unintended and unfortunate repercussions for the two women concerned. I know the EYFS talks about it being an offence to do (or not to do) certain things - does anyone know whether these are civil or criminal offences? I'd be interested to know how this might affect their future careers in the police force. xD

 

Maz

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AnonyMouse_3139 15+ Years

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This has been on every news report I've seen today. Like everyone else I'm astounded that common sense has finally left the building. I think the only thing to do is carry on as normal. Ofsted can tell as many people as they like that they are acting illegally but before any of it came to court someone in government would intervene or the court system would fall apart.

A silent passive protest is whats needed and god forbid that they say everyone should have a CRB, we'll soon have so many people with a CRB that no-one will be safer than anyone else.

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AnonyMouse_15046 12 Years

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If these ladies were to register as childminders they would receive training which would help them to support the development of all of the children's learning and they could possibly qualify for tax credits which would pay for 70% of the costs if they paid each other in money. That could be quite a lot of money if they work many hours.

 

On the first reflection it does sound ridiculous but then again are these children less entitled to regulated childcare just because their parents pay each other in time rather than money? I suppose that depends on whether you think Oftsed registration improves the quality of childcare.

 

I'm not sure what I think about all of this but it might not be as ridiculous as it sounds on first reading.

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AnonyMouse_19762 15+ Years

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If this is a 'Safeguarding' issue - how would it be improved if the children were being cared for in their own homes? Promise I'm not being obtuse - I just don't understand........

 

Now I'm wondering.......I have got that right - haven't I - they are saying it would be different if the children were in their own homes?

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AnonyMouse_1195 15+ Years

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Yes fine in their own home between 6 pm and 2 am which presumably covers baby-sitters so that parents can have an evening out. Why is a babysitter alone in the house at night less danger than a friend or family member in the day? No doubt all those years ago when I and a good friend helped each other out with our disabled children, by taking turns week and week about to have a big shopping session without our child, and often a bit more than two hours, we were putting them at risk and we were getting a reward :o which was shopping time and bringing home a treat for everyone. Similarly we have taken our children's friends on holiday with ours and been given a gift as a thank you. It is the effect that the wording at present has on these sort of arrangements that is causing concern, and I think it should?. Why shouldn't good friends support each other in this way? Presumably as parents we are able to judge people we know well and trust them to help out, and I can't see why that has to be regulated? Why is a family member any more able to be trusted than a friend? If the friend has to have training then why don't family members have to be trained? We seem to be going towards a country where everything that is a risk has to be eliminated as we become more and more regulated. The atmosphere of distrust grows. Yes those offering a professional service should be regulated, but surely friends helping each other out on more than an arbitary 14 days a year, don't need to be trained or registered? What about a parent who drops off and picks up her friends child from primary school each day, so that her friend can go to get her other child from the secondary school some miles away? If that takes up just over two hours each week-day and she is treated to a meal out once a term should she be trained?

OFSTED investigated and took no action in the case of the two policewomen, but I think the publicity serves to get people talking about getting some common-sense into the equation. At the end of the day we wouldn't condone illegal child-minding either.

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AnonyMouse_19762 15+ Years

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Hmmm.....this has reminded me.......about 15 years ago.......my closest friend was going through a horrible time and her son came to live with us for about 6 months.........he had just started secondary school so was aged 11 or 12.........he was very happy with us and we enjoyed having him........he still refers to me as his 'second mum'.........I'm wondering whatever 'laws we were breaking there'.........crazy.......

 

There is a lovely line in Sue Palmer's Toxic Childhood - that talks about the 'whole village' taking responsibility for children - I mustn't misquote her - will look for it when time allows.......

 

An incredulous!

Sunnyday

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AnonyMouse_8466 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_8466

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I don't think this is a safeguarding issue per se - but if the law says that someone looking after children for more than two hours in their own home and makes a charge for it then they fit the definition of a childminder, and must be registered with Ofsted. The difficulty arises because of the fact that these two women have struck a reciprocal arrangement whereby they each offer childcare to the other free of charge so that they can both work. One gives childcare free so the other can give childcare free: it is the only way their arrangement is economically viable.

 

I'm not an expert on tax affairs, but I know that the Inland Revenue attaches a monetary value to benefits in kind, and perhaps this is the angle that Ofsted are taking. Until Ofsted puts out some kind of detailed statement we won't know, but clearly this is an issue that needs to be clarified - there must be lots of people who are quite worried by what has happened.

 

If the women had been looking after the children in the child's home as Upsy Daisy suggested, then I presume they would fit the definition of a nanny, in which case they would not need to be registered.

 

I do think the press are hyping up this story and hooking it to the ISA stories of a couple of weeks ago and that their motives are not entirely squeaky clean. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out over the next few days and weeks.

 

Maz

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AnonyMouse_12805 15+ Years

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I can only think that as you do not have to be registered when in a childs home. then the law deems you (the parent) to have the right (within reason) to do what you want in your own home???

 

I can understand Ofsted acting on this, once reported to them it would have been out of their hands however, I am amazed at whoever reported it and do wonder a) how they knew of this in the first place & :o what sort of grudge they had against one or either ofthe parents???

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AnonyMouse_5503 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_5503

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What a lot of tosh!! (Don't mean what anyone's wrote. Just can't believe this silly rule)This government is becoming a dictatorship!! I'm due to have a baby very soon and i was suggesting to my friend that she drops her little one off with me if her shift is awkward, then i can take her child round to the nursery, or if she's on a late shift, i could pick her little one up. She'd probably do the same for me, as we'll be working different days from each other.

 

I fully intend to carry this out. Not everybody has loads of family to help out.

I think people are extremely sad who have reported those 2 women. How vindictive can you get!

 

I guess we'll just have to see what they actually come up with. Thank you for whoever posted the link for the petition.

 

Deb

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How nice to be listened to for once! :(

 

Maz

 

 

Now when you can say that to government............the country will be a better place. :oxD

 

Peggy

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  • 2 weeks later...
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A bit after the horse has bolted but common sense prevails in the end.

 

WOOHOO GOVERNMENT LISTENED.

 

HERE

 

QUOTE Balls wrote: "From now on and with immediate effect I would ask that Ofsted always treats such situations as beyond the scope of the childcare arrangements that you regulate under the Childcare Act 2006."

 

He goes on to say how this will be done. :o

 

Peggy

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