Early years and childcare: For childminders

Safeguarding children

Ofsted and our inspection partners carry out all the required checks for staff who visit nurseries, childminders, schools and colleges as part of an inspection. This includes appropriate employment checks and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure.

All HMI, Regulatory, Additional and Early Years Outsourced Inspectors carry official Ofsted photo identification badges so that schools and other providers know they have passed these rigorous safeguarding checks.

Ofsted inspectors work to government legislation and statutory guidance, which is based on the Department for Education's Safeguarding children and safer recruitment in education.

Below you can find additional advice and FAQs.

If you want to contact us to make a complaint or you have a concern about any service Ofsted inspects or regulates go to the How to complain page.

If you want to contact us to report concerns about practices and procedures for the safeguarding of children and young people in local authority services go to the Whistleblower hotline page.

Additional advice and FAQs

The application form to register with Ofsted as a child minder/childcare provider includes a space for my DBS (was Independent Safeguarding Authority) registration number – what do I need to do?

We included this in our application forms because of arrangements made by the previous government under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) and intended to take effect from 26 July 2010. These planned changes have since been overtaken by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and this part of the form is no longer applicable. You should therefore leave this box blank.

Does this affect the need for me to have an enhanced DBS disclosure as part of my application to register with Ofsted?

No. Ofsted will still require an enhanced DBS check on you and, in the case of prospective child minders, all family members over the age of 16.

Is the Government going to review the requirements for DBS checks as well?

As part of the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 the DBS is intending to introduce a new application process that will include the possibility of registering for future online checks of the information shown on a disclosure (DBS) certificate. The intended effect of this change is to make it possible for applicants to use existing DBS disclosure certificates as long as they are registered under the new system. However, this will not come into effect until some time in 2013. More details of this system can be found on the DBS website.

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Annual Report 2011/12

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