Don't get left in the dark about childcare

There’s been too much in the news recently about childcare providers having a seedy past – from pornographic images to paedophilia it seems that there is no 100% safe option when choosing childcare. It makes you wonder what these must-have police checks actually do in providing children with safe carers.

But let’s not forget that this is just the minority of people. There are still good chldcare providers out there – it’s just up to us parents to find them.

I know when my first child was born, I was determined not to use a childminder because I’d heard some horror stories (along with positives, I might add) that made me feel too uncomfortable. I felt that a nursery would be the best option because there would be safety in numbers. That opinion changed when I had to remove my son from his first nursery because they didn’t feed or change him – during the ‘settling in’ period!

I wish I’d had some proper guidance in choosing a nursery, but I? had to learn the hard way. This led me to research and write ‘The Parent’s Stress-Free Guide to Finding Good Childcare’. In doing the reserach it became clear that a lot of us parents don’t understand childcare qualifications and what police checks, or CRB checks really mean and do. Here is an extract on police checks.

What are police checks

Police checks (or CRB checks) are carried out by the Criminal Record Bureau (CRB), an agency of the Home Office to help organisations make more informed decisions when recruiting people to work with children and vulnerable people.

A CRB check can provide access to a range of information, such as information:

held on the Police National Computer (PNC), including Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands and Warnings in England and Wales, and most of the relevant convictions in Scotland and Northern Ireland may also be included;
held by local police forces and other agencies, relating to relevant non-conviction information; from the government?s Protection of Children Act List (PoCA), where applicable;
from the government?s Protection of Vulnerable Adults List (PoVA), where applicable; and
held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 (formerly known as List 99), where applicable.

The CRB does not check whether an applicant is permitted to work within the UK. The employer has liability for ensuring that the person they intend to employ can work in the UK.

Levels of CRB Check

The CRB offers two types of check: the standard and the enhanced.

These checks cannot be obtained by members of the public directly but are only available to organisations and only for those professions, offices, employments, work and occupations listed in the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Standard CRB check

Standard CRB checks are primarily for posts that involve working with children or vulnerable adults. They contain information about:

convictions
cautions
reprimands
warnings

This information is held in England and Wales on the Police National Computer, and most of the relevant convictions in Scotland and Northern Ireland may also be included.

Enhanced?CRB Check

Enhanced checks are for posts involving a far greater degree of contact with children or vulnerable adults.

In general, the type of work will involve regularly caring for, supervising, training or being in sole charge of such people, e.g. a childcare provider, a teacher, scout or guide leader.

Enhanced checks contain the same information as Standard checks but with the addition of any locally held police force information considered relevant to the job role, by Chief Police Officer(s).

Your childcare provider can have either of the two police checks, and may show you a certificate breaking down what is on their file.

Parents who employ a nanny, au pair or babysitter directly cannot apply for a CRB check on applicants ? you need to go through an agency (the CRB has a database of organisations you can contact to send the CRB off for you). However, if an agency supplies the nanny, au pair or babysitter, the agency is entitled to carry out a CRB check.

It is worth pointing out that a CRB check is valid for up to a year. A crucial point, however, is that a year is a long time and so the CRB only tells you what your childcare provider has or hadn?t done up to the date on the disclosure itself. Therefore, even if your potential childcare provider has a CRB, if you have any doubts or concerns, do not employ them!

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