Getting my nanny registered with Ofsted

[GoldysMum]

i am hoping to get my lovely nanny registered with Ofsted by September so we can start paying her with childcare vouchers when my oldest dc starts school and there is actually some left over after younger dcs nursery. Anyway, she's now completed her first aid training and waiting for the certificate. She is going to sort out Ofsted registration herself so that it doesn't become a taxable benefit if I do it. However I am very keen for it to go through in time as I understand it can take a while. Does she have to wait for her actual certificate to arrive before she can apply? And what is the quickest, easiest way to apply? Is there an online form I can direct her to? Or should I print up a form from somewhere for her to print off? Any helpful hints would be much appreciated. Thank you

Provided you make registration a requirement of employment, paying for it is not a taxable benefit (and if the nanny pays for it herself in this case, she can claim the costs as an allowable expense). For technical reasons you should not pay her insurance though.

The quickest way to apply is online, here; you can download the forms here to see what information she needs to provide. Probably a good idea to read this and this first.

When reading all of this, note that nannies register on the Voluntary Part of the Childcare Register, also known as Part II (or 2).

Thank you, very helpful - and do you know if she has to wait for the first aid certificate to come through before applying, or is the fact that she has completed the course enough to allow her to apply?

She can apply online now but they will call her and ask for a copy of the certificate to be sent to them. So depending on how quick she is expecting it to arrive she could start it now.

Mr Anchovy what are the technical reasons for not paying for her insurance? We did for our nanny - should we not have done?

smokey you shouldn't because if, heaven forbid, anything happened the insurer could say you paid and can't claim against yourself (IYSWIM). It sort of defeats the point of having insurance which of course you may not care about because you feel you'll never need to claim on it - although you should care because you never know what will happen - but OFSTED/the insurer probably will and that would cause complications.

It's a fraud prevention thing I suppose too.

Yes, that :)

Thanks again - I am a bit confused though as it was on the advice of paye for nannies, the agency we use that our nanny would have to be taxed if we paid for her ofsted registration. They said that we could pay for her first aid training though so we have done it this way round. Is this not correct? And if she gets tax back after paying for ofsted registration is that something I need to let them know about? Thanks

I understand why they are saying that* and you may wish to take their advice. Perhaps I should have said 'paying for it may not be a taxable benefit'. If HMRC conduct a PAYE audit and decide that it is a taxable benefit, you may have additional tax and national insurance to pay.

If the nanny successfully claims this expense through her tax return she does not have to tell you.

• there is a list of approved professional bodies known as "list 3", and you are allowed to pay annual membership of these bodies without it being counted as a benefit. Ofsted annual registration fees are not on this listHowever there is a general exception for payments which fulfil certain criteria which may apply to Ofsted registration: this is a grey area which has not been fully tested in the courts IMHO.