Some staff excused from CRB checks

Nursery staff in England who have had police checks within the past three years do not need to apply to Ofsted for a Disclosure check by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) when starting a new job at another day nursery, according to guidance published by Ofsted last week.

Ofsted, whose Early Years Directorate oversees all registered childcare in England, has produced the guidance, Building better childcare: Criminal Records Bureau - What you need to know, following anger in the early years sector over long delays in the processing of Disclosure applications by the Bureau and confusion about the procedure for filling in the forms. Last month nurseries reported delays of around 18 weeks in the processing of Disclosure applications by the CRB (News, 25 July).

The guidance said, 'If an individual has an Enhanced Disclosure which has been carried out within the past three years, there is no need to request a new Disclosure. Ofsted will need to see the original Disclosure and will not accept photocopies.

'If the individual has original documents showing that the police check has been carried out within three years, Ofsted would not normally carry out a CRB check. You can send the CRB Disclosure or the police authority check to your Ofsted regional centre by post and we will return it to the individual.'

An Ofsted spokeswoman said, 'Ofsted has three requirements - that staff have a police check, that they are checked to see they are not on the Department for Education and Skills' List 99 and that they have a Department of Health check, which covers mental health issues. If people can provide written evidence of these three requirements having been carried out within the past three years, they do not have to apply to Ofsted to be checked by the Criminal Records Bureau.'

But the National Day Nurseries Association said this could prove 'problematic' for nurseries. Chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'In practice, this approach may be provide a glimmer of hope for a handful of nurseries, but it will do little to alleviate the problems of the majority of nurseries, dealing with the day to day problems of waiting in some cases up to several months for CRB checks.'

She added, 'Not all nursery staff will have had all three checks. Many local authorities carried out all three checks on the nursery officer in charge, and gave other staff List 99 and Department of Health checks only. Local authorities handed over all their records to Ofsted when it took on responsibility for registration and inspection. The onus will be on Ofsted regional centres to produce original documents and verify clearance of staff.'

The NDNA has an Ofsted helpline on 0870 770 0449 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. The Ofsted guidance is on its website at www.ofsted.gov.uk .