The Scottish Executive had said that private nurseries and clubs would not have to become registered bodies in order to check criminal records (News, 21 March 2002). It was thought that the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, which took over regulation from local authorities on 1 April, would act as a registered body on their behalf. However, it has now come to light that this was only an interim arrangement which was in operation until Monday 29 April.
From this week childcare providers will be expected to register in their own right as a countersigning body with Disclosure Scotland in order to countersign applications for standard or enhanced disclosures for potential employees. Becoming a registered body will cost 150 and require providers to set up appropriate procedures for handling sensitive and confidential information.
A spokesman for the Care Commission said it was currently trying to interpret minister's wishes. He said, 'Disclosure Scotland only started operating on Monday (29 April), and until it began full operations the Care Commission acted as an interim agent between service providers and the Scottish Criminal Record Office.
'Individual childminders will continue to be looked after by the Care Commission. There is also a phrase in the guidance notes that says that in time, the Care Commission will also cover other adults in the house, but it is open to interpretation what 'in time' means and it is not clear who will look after other adults in the meantime and also individual nurseries.
'Voluntary organisations have formed an umbrella group, Volunteer Development Scotland, to act on behalf of them, but private nurseries are still on their own unless they also form an umbrella organisation.
'It all depends on how it is interpreted. It is an evolving situation because the Care Commission has only been operating for three weeks and we expect that more issues will come out. Our advice to anyone needing to know more is to go to our website www.carecommission.comwhich is updated regularly.'
A Borders nursery manager making enquiries last week found that Disclosure Scotland and the Care Commission were unable to inform her whether she should become a registered body. She said, 'It has all been a big mix-up. I think it would have made a lot more sense for the Care Commission to be the registered body, as was first announced, rather than nurseries doing it individually.
'It is now another thing nursery managers have got to do. It will increase our paperwork and put more responsibility on us. I was a lot happier with the old system because it took the pressure off nursery managers, whereas now we have to be even more accountable for the staff we employ. I do not have a high turnover, but when it does come to employing more staff I am going to be very cautious. I will also have to check out where I stand with data protection requirements.'