what's the deal with childminder's CRB?

[lou19]

we have found a childminder that we really like. however when I asked him to see his CRB, he stated that he didn't have one. He said he supposes Ofsted ran a police check when he registered eleven years ago, but he never received a copy and was not asked to fill one since. He was inspected twice, last time in 2008, and I have seen those reports on the Ofsted website, he received a good/outstanding rating both times. His partner, who is registered as his assistant, also couldn't produce one and said she was given some sort of pin number so she could give that to a potential employer to check her criminal record with the CRB. I'm confused. Can you shed any light?I will be calling Ofsted first thing on Monday morning but was wondering if anyone had a similar experience.

Yes 11 yrs ago CM's were reg'd by Social Services and so although he would have had a police check done, he will not have the CRB certificate in his possession in the way that Ofsted give them out now. He is telling the truth. Feel free to check with Ofsted for your own peace of mind though.

thanks NickNacks. I have found a rather obscure document on the ofsted website that says that childcare providers are not required by law to renew their CRB checks every three years. I'm quite surprised to be honest. if he had committed any offences against children in the eleven years in between, how would they know?I trust him as he comes on great reccommendations and I wouldn't allow my baby to be looked after him otherwise, I am just wondering on a general note.

Ofsted are notified if the childcarer ever has any dealings with the police and/or social services and it is then for them to internally investigate/suspend/terminate registration. The three yr rule would be pointless anyway since the CRB effectively becomes out of date the day it is printed.

Ofsted don't even redo CRB checks when childcare providers ask them to... they certainly are not redoing mine which is now over 3 years old even though I have asked for it to be redone.

As NickNacks says, the reply I got from Ofsted was along the line of... they would be told if I had committed an offence, so being Ofsted registered is sufficient.

Thank you, that's very useful. I was having a little panic as we really liked him and had decided to go with him.