Unregistered CM - would you?

[LittleOne76]

My DD is 1yo and has been babysat on a casual basis by a lovely lady who is keen to set up as a CM. she hasn't registered with oftsted yet but intends to go through the process. I'm going back to work and gut instinct like this woman. Just thinking through whether we get her to childminder despite her not being registered yet. That is, her place hasn't been inspected, live in partner hasn't been vetted etc.
Do you think this would be taking too much risk if we went with her? We could check her place out and meet the partner but wouldn't do the same level of vetting oftsted would do.
What would you do in this scenario?

No way. Not insured, not regulated, not vetted. Not a chance.

I would ask her if she would nanny for you initially. (I did this while setting up as a childminder) She could look after your child in your home rather than hers completely legally. You could advise her to check whether she can register direct with ofsted rather than through her LA. I did this and it speeded the process up. I started registration process in February, started looking after the children in March, from their own home, then switched to my home in April when my registration was complete.

Runoutofideas... That's a good suggestion. I haven't looked into the CM requirements in detail yet but would it be illegal for her to mind at her home or is it the case that the risk would be totally for the parents given lack of registration (and therefore vetting/insurance). We've checked references and first aid cert and crb for her for the purposes of casual babysitting but it's her home/ partner that's the unknown right now. As mentioned, we could inspect ourselves but there is only so far we could take that. It's good to know that it didn't seem to take too long once you started the registration process.

No not for such a young baby. But I did use one when DS was 7 and I needed after school care, she was fantastic.

its illegal for her to mind at her house but not if she comes to yours - but your would be employing her so would have to set up as an employer for tax and NI -

Just having a quick look at the requirements and see that it looks like it would be illegal to mind without registration if you have the kids on your premises for reward for more than two hours a day....

Yes that's right. More than 2 hours per day and she needs by law to be registered. I did it as a mixture of mainly from her house and a bit from mine to get the children used to coming here, but not for more than 2 hours per day.

Can people still offer to look after children knowing it is illegal to do so?..get her to register and you will have peace of mind.

I wouldn't because it's illegal and it's not fair to all the childminders that are paying tax, jumping through hoops for Ofsted and stuck with masses of paperwork etc.

I would otherwise though, I don't think someone needs to be vetted or regulated by Ofsted to make them good at looking after children; nannies aren't after all!

Agree- we couldn't do this until she's registered. I didn't realise it was actually illegal when I put the original post up. Thanks for all the feedback!

good luck, having her nanny for you at your home whilst her reg is in process is a great solution

It is the taking payment part which is illegal... if you provide care for a friends child free of charge it is ok. I can't see anyone believing that you weren's paying her though.. and it is risky without the vetting, I would never do it.