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Original poster

Childminders - removal from register

13 replies

smokey · 21/06/2004 13:53

I have been taking up references for a part-time nanny to look after my children in my home after school 2 days a week. She told me that she was a registered childminder and that although she hasn't worked as a childminder for 6 months, she was still registered. However, I phoned the council today and they say that she is not registered - they cancelled her registration this month. The council is not allowed by law to tell me the reason why.

As a result, I feel I have no alternative but to withdraw the job offer. Even if there is an innocent reason for this, I will not be able to get confirmation of this from the council and would have to rely on her explanation. Although she does not need to be a registered childminder for the job, I am worried in case there are more serious reasons for her removal and I would have no way of finding out. Has anyone else come up against this problem?

OP posts:

motherinferior · 21/06/2004 14:11

I haven't, but I think you are doing the right thing. Why don't you ring the National Childminders Association to talk it over, though?

Chandra · 21/06/2004 14:12

Beter to be safe than sorry but, is there any way you can find more info about her? could it be that her registration just expired? could you ask her to register again and show you a proof of that?.

Twinkie · 21/06/2004 14:13

Was it definate that she was taken off of the register and did not just give up childminding - I was taken off the register at my own insistence after being rung all of the time after I had given up childminding??

nutcracker · 21/06/2004 14:15

I too was removed because i gave up childminding.

nutcracker · 21/06/2004 14:16

What about if she gave them permission to disclose why she was removed. That way if it you will know if she wants you tyo know IYKWIM.

homebird11 · 21/06/2004 14:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

smokey · 21/06/2004 14:41

Thanks for all your replies. I phoned the NCMA as Motherinferior suggested and they said to ring OFSTED, but OFSTED has no current record of her either. The references she gave were both from nanny jobs she did a couple of years ago, not from more recently when she was a childminder - something I was already concerned about too. I'm pretty sure she did not initiate the removal from the register as she said she had checked with the council and that she was still registered.

I think I will have to interview some more people for the job...

OP posts:

Twinkie · 21/06/2004 14:44

Sounds dodgy - why not ask her for some names and adresses of people she minded for??

Or ring other local childminders - you should have a Child Minding Assoc in your area and I am sure they would give you a nod or a wink IYKWIM!!

LIZS · 21/06/2004 14:51

Not sure I would read too much into it in itself. If they only recently removed her perhaps she was still registered when she checked ? Could she offer the names of any of her childminding parents who could give an opinion as an alternative, or produce a letter from Council to her as to why her name was removed. Maybe she thought nanny references were more relevant to you. Perhaps she was never Ofsted inspected as I think that is quite a recent requirement.

If she otherwise seems a good candidate it may still worth pursuing her background, but be careful not to fall foul of employment law if you ultimately withdraw the offer.

Twinkie · 21/06/2004 15:02

I would say something like - as I said my offer was due to satisfactory references and since I have found out x y and z I feel that I am going to have to withdraw the offer.

No one could ever expect you to allow the offer to stand without decent references, especially when it comes to your childrens welfare so even if you didn;t say it I think you would be covered!!

gscrym · 21/06/2004 15:20

I think that she hasn't been upfront with you for whatever reason and that alone would make me think twice. Like other people have said, there may be a perfectly good explanation as to why she's no longer registered. Did you tell her that you knew she was no longer registered? If you did and she still insisted she was then something's wrong. What you could do if you want to continue with offering the job is ask to speak to the parents of the kids she most recently child-minded. If everything's above board, then there shouldn't be a problem
If you have any doubts, remember it's the person who will care for your little uns when you aren't there and that's something you have to be completely happy with.
Good luck

Jimjams · 21/06/2004 15:54

`I'm not sure she hasn't been upfront. I have a lot of dealings with the council and to be honest they couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag. I think you need to be upfront- and then leave her to ring the council to see if she can arrange for them to let you know the reason she is no longer registered. If she isn't keen to do this then I think you have your answer.

SofiaAmes · 21/06/2004 20:15

I agree with Jimjams. It is perfectly possible that the council has made a mistake. At a minimum, even if you do decide not to hire her, you should let her know why, so that if there is a mistake then she can rectify it. I never cease to be amazed at what government can mess up. Every time I call the City of Los Angeles regarding my house there, they insist that the street that I live on doesn't exist. I have to go through a whole explanation of how the street's name is spelled wrong in some (but not all) of their databases and that despite the fact that they think it doesn't exist, they do still charge me property tax and know that the house exists for that purpose! I have owned the house for 10 years and have yet to get them to change their databases during that time!

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