'Poor provision' in independents

The report, The Regulatory Impact Assessment for Proposals to Extend Children Act Childcare Regulation to Schools, pointed out that although the educational provision for children under five was judged to be satisfactory or good in most independent schools, in some cases it was not, and the inspectors' findings also raised doubts about the standards of childcare provided for under-fives. This particularly applied to independent schools that were not subject to other quality assurance requirements, such as those for membership of organisations affiliated to the Independent Schools Council.

Concerns raised included inadequate staff:child ratios, overcrowded premises with insufficient space for play, no area for sleeping babies, a complete lack of criminal records checks on staff, and rooms for very young children with no access to toilets or running water. Under current arrangements such poor-quality provision might only be picked up during school or nursery education inspections, which could be as infrequent as every six years.