'Unfit' nannies being approved by Ofsted

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has published the results of a survey of 1,000 mothers, in conjunction with mumsnet, which found that two-thirds of mothers see Ofsted registration for nannies as a stamp of approval, believing that the inspectorate would have verified their ID and eligibility to work in the UK and carried out a CRB check.

REC has warned that parents could unknowingly be hiring unsuitable nannies and putting their children at risk.

Karen Dixon (pictured), the owner of The London Nanny Company and Family Match, applied to join the VCR in a bid to highlight flaws in the system. She was approved to join the register despite her having no childcare qualifications, no first aid training and no nanny insurance.

She then wrote to Christine Gilbert, Ofsted's chief inspector in December 2008 to explain what she had done (see pdf attachment top right). While she received a reply from Ms Gilbert within four weeks, her Ofsted registration was not cancelled until August 2009 and she still has a certificate that says that she is an Ofsted approved nanny.

Judith Ivers, chair of REC’s childcare section, said, ‘We don’t want to have to wait for a child to be harmed before Ofsted acts on the flaws in its current system. Despite recruiters turning these nannies away, they are still able to work and independently advertise their services online and could still pose a threat to child safety.’