Tinies highlighted its concerns as it published the results of a survey of more than 700 parents, which found that 46 per cent of parents who had previously used a professional childcare agency were planning to search directly for candidates in the future.
The VOCR was launched in April 2007 as a successor to the voluntary Childcare Approval Scheme. Nannies are currently exempt from having to register with Ofsted but, if they do sign up to the VOCR, the families they work for can benefit from childcare tax credits and vouchers.
Amanda Coxen, franchise director at Tinies, said, 'We are concerned that some of the checks parents expect to have been carried out when hiring a nanny registered on the VOCR, such as their qualifications, are in fact only a tick box on the application form.
'Nannies are only required to provide a paediatric first aid certificate. They are not required to produce evidence that they have childcare qualifications, nor that they have any nanny experience at all.'
Sixty-seven per cent of the parents surveyed said they expected anyone listed on the VOCR to have qualifications in childcare and around half said they were very concerned to discover that a nanny does not have to prove these qualifications.
A statement released by Ofsted said, 'Agencies that are familiar with the legislation for the provision of childcare will be aware that the registration of nannies with Ofsted is voluntary. Ofsted makes basic checks such as CRB, but we do not inspect all providers on the childcare register. However, we have agreed with the DCSF that we should inspect a sample (10 per cent) of registered providers. In practice we have done more than this.'
