Under a joint agreement, Scotland's biggest police force and its care watchdog will share information regarding childcare providers to make sure that nurseries are not being used as a business front for organised crime. The Care Commission will use police information when carrying out checks on would-be nursery owners, managers and staff when they apply to register childcare facilities.
The initiative follows concerns raised last year when 12 nurseries in and around Glasgow were investigated by police amid suspicions that they had links to organised criminals (News, 12 May 2010).
Detectives said they believed the businesses, which were not named, could have been involved in laundering cash from drugs and extortion rackets by creating 'ghost children', who show up on the books, and whose parents pay in cash, but in reality do not exist.
George Hamilton, Strathclyde police assistant chief constable, said, 'Criminal gangs will go anywhere and try anything to try to clean up the money they get from their illegal activity. Nurseries, which by their very nature see a lot of cash transactions, are just one of the businesses that organised criminals have attempted to infiltrate. Involvement in the service sector generally, including nurseries, provides a means for organised criminals to launder their money through the business to make it appear as legitimate profit.
'We are well aware of all their tactics and by working together with organisations like the Care Commission we will disrupt and deter the criminals and therefore allow the truly legitimate enterprises to flourish.'
The initiative has also been backed by the Scottish Government, which believes it will be an important step in thwarting organised crime in Scotland.
