The reporter, from the BBC's 'Whistleblower' documentary series, wasable to start work in November at the Just Learning nursery inCambourne, where ten-month-old Georgia Hollick died in April 2006 (news,27 April 2006), without references being taken and without undergoing aCriminal Records Bureau check. The BBC has made allegations of otherhealth and safety breaches, including the discovery of choking hazardsin the sandpit. Its documentary is to be shown on BBC One on 5March.
This follows an Ofsted inspection in December where the nursery wasrated inadequate.
Jonathan Bell, managing director of Just Learning, one of the UK'slargest nursery chains, said, 'The BBC wrote to us about the documentaryon 12 February. The board of directors met on 15 February and decided toclose the Cambourne branch for three reasons - the breach of ourrecruitment policy, the inadequate Ofsted rating, and ongoing problemsrecruiting qualified staff. We have since undertaken a full reviewacross all Just Learning nurseries to ensure policies and procedures arebeing followed.'
A spokesperson for Just Learning added, 'The BBC has made a series ofvague allegations and gave us a very tight time frame to respond.However, they were very slow to respond to our own requests for moreinformation. We need to see the video of the programme in order toprovide informed comment and address any health and safety issues, butthe BBC will not supply it. We sent the BBC a film of our own,responding to their allegations, but they are refusing to use it.'
Mr Bell said they will be putting the video on to the Just Learningwebsite this week.
A statement provided by the BBC said, 'In all our dealings with JustLearning we have followed BBC editorial guidelines and the Ofcom codewith regard to fairness and the time frame allowed in which to respond.Just Learning's lawyers have been provided with full details of thepotential choking hazards discovered in the sandpit.
'Our undercover journalist worked for Just Learning in Cambourne from 7to 27 November 2007 and it is clearly a very serious concern thatthroughout her employment looking after very young children, the nurseryfailed to obtain CRB checks or to check out any of her referees.'
Just Learning has offered parents a refund of two weeks fees and hasgiven staff at Cambourne the opportunity to move to other branches. MrBell said it had received many expressions of interest from childcareproviders looking to take over the Cambourne site.
