Childcare

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Under Part X (Child Minding and Day Care for Young Children) of the Children Act 1989, you are required to register with Ofsted if you are offering certain types of care facilities for children under the age of eight for more than two hours. This applies regardless of whether the child belongs to a member of staff (for example, a crèche for employees) or a customer (such as a childcare service or kids’ activity group).

Does this apply to me?

No:

• If the child is over the age of eight, or;

• If the child is in your care for less than two hours.

Yes:

• If the child is between five and eight years old and in your care for more than two hours – you have to be on the Ofsted Child Care Register.

• If the child is under five years old and in your care for more than two hours – you have to be on the Ofsted Early Years Register.

You can apply to join one register or both registers at the same time.

You cannot voluntarily register if you look after each child for under two hours a day – even if your business is open for longer than two hours.

The only exception to this is if you provide before- or after-school care for less than two hours a day in total. In this case you can, if you wish, register on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register.

There are various exemptions from the need to register. These include:

1. If you provide tutoring or coaching in either one or two of the following activities to children aged three and over:

• Sports;

• Performing arts;

• Arts and crafts;

• School study support or homework support;

• Religious, cultural or language studies.

However, you cannot look after children under five for more than four hours in any one day.

2. If you look after children under eight from one place for 14 days or less in any year.

3. If you operate a crèche and all of the following apply:

• You look after children under eight for four hours or less each day.

• The children’s parents plan to stay in the immediate area (close by, where they can be summoned immediately).

• There is no long-term commitment to provide childcare.

• This is offered to parents or carers as a short-term convenience, for instance, while they are undertaking an activity.

This is particularly relevant to activity and holiday centres where care facilities are offered so that parents can undertake an onsite activity.

However, it is important to note that the Children Act 1989 says that you have a duty to ensure that the children are well cared for, even if you are not required to be on a register.

Baby-sitting is not specifically covered by the Children Act 1989. This is because care that is provided on the parent’s own premises is not normally treated as childminding, unless you care for the children of more than two sets of parents in the home of one of them.

Baby-listening services do not come within the scope of the Children Act 1989. However, if you provide baby-sitting services on a regular basis on particular premises, such as a hotel’s baby-sitting service, then you may need to register.

If you need to apply for registration, or are in any doubt as to whether you need to register, you should contact Ofsted.

In the first instance, you should contact your local authority for information about pre-registration briefings and an application pack. Ofsted recommends a briefing session with your local authority before making your application.

The registration process starts as soon as Ofsted receives your form. They aim to complete the process within 12 weeks for childminders and 25 weeks for day care providers.

During this time, Ofsted will arrange a registration visit and a ‘suitable person’ interview with one of their inspectors. They will carry out a number of checks, including with the Criminal Records Bureau, on everyone associated with an application such as the applicant, day care manager or those who live on the premises where the applicant proposes to provide child-minding.

The registration process is explained in the Ofsted leaflets mentioned below in Further guidance.

After registration, Ofsted will conduct the first inspection within seven months of you starting to care for children. Regular inspections of the quality of care follow this first inspection at least once every three years and, in some cases, more often.

The Department for Education’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework which sets the standards that all Early Years providers must meet, in order to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. This is a comprehensive framework that sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old, and was revised in 2014. All registered early years providers are required to use the EYFS.