minimum age for babysitting..

[nearlyfree]

My daughter will be 16 in May and has been asked by neighbours to baby sit for their 2 daughters ages 5 and 7. I was delighted, she has been looking, unsucessfully, for a part time job to supplement the money i give her. Her father, who now refuses to have the girls to stay, because i had the audacity to go to the csa) has vetoed the whole idea and not only is he refusing to let her babysit, he has now informed me that if i leave her with her 11 year old sister, he will report me to social services for neglect...I am not particularly worried about that (i'm sure SS have much more pressing concerns) but i'm not sure now whether she can legally babysit..what if anything went wrong...who would be held responsible...maybe a bit gloom and doom but just wondered if anyone knew the actual legal position....

This comes up time and time again.. there is no legal minimum age for babysitting. You have to use your common sense.

This, for eg, from the CAB website:

"Babysitting
In England and Wales, you can babysit at any age, whether you are paid or not. In Northern Ireland, you must be at least thirteen. You are allowed to look after a child of any age. However, if the child you are babysitting is thought to be at risk because it is not being looked after properly, the child's parents could be prosecuted, or action could be taken to put their child into care.
If you are over the age of 16, you can be charged with a criminal offence if you deliberately assault, ill-treat or abandon a child in your care."

Why dont you call SS yourself, and ask them what age they recommend?