Child safety is priority in new day care inspections

At first sight, the decision to rank all childminders and daycare providers "good", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" may appear to be another example of the nanny state intruding into people's lives.

At first sight, the decision to rank all childminders and daycare providers "good", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" may appear to be another example of the nanny state intruding into people's lives.

Butthe new system being established by Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, is much better than its predecessor.

Before September 2001, the registration system was in the hands of the 150 local education authorities in England - with the result that they each set their own standards. These could differ from area to area and there were no reports available to parents to give them any inclination of the standards of different prov-iders. Now, every one of the 100,000 care providers in England has to apply for registration and inspection by Ofsted.

Other parts of the UK have also introduced central registration schemes for childminders. In Wales, it is called the Care Standards Inspectorate, in Scotland the Care Commission and in Northern Ireland checks are made by the education and training board.

The results of Ofsted's first inspections - which show that only 40 per cent of providers came through with a clean bill of health on first inspections - show how vital this provision is.

Most of the faults were relatively minor, which is why 99.8 per cent of providers were able to meet the improvements demanded by Ofsted. For instance, in some cases, children could gain access to inappropriate parts of the house such as the bedroom, where they might be able to get hold of medicines if unsupervised.

But no system is foolproof and David Bell, Ofsted's chief executive, was honest enough to admit the regime would not stop a cottage industry carrying on in some cases. "I can't say to you that nobody will slip through the net," he said.

During its initial inspection period the inspectors refused 220 applications and a further 3,030 child providers withdrew their applications rather than face inspection. The main complaints were over safety standards - comprising 28 per cent of all orders for improvements.

This was followed by health complaints - 16 per cent (22,000) - that covered issues ranging from risks relating to pets to the inadequate provision of medicines.

In 12 per cent of cases, the provider was considered not to be a suitable person, mostly because of a lack of qualifications, but there were a few cases where there had been a history of violence.

Maurice Smith, chief inspector for the early-years age group at Ofsted, said: "Cases of violence and sex abuse would be extremely rare but we have had occasions where people raise complaints or concerns - more commonly about physical abuse - and it is in these cases it is highly likely that extreme action will be taken. In circumstances like that, we immediately liaise with the police and the social services."

Ofsted is now negotiating with the Department for Education to seek a change in the law to give parents details of any previous complaints against a childminder. At present they can only do so with the agreement of the provider.

Mr Bell said: "We are allowed to tell them there has been a complaint but not give the details."

Inspectors are anxious that the new system should avoid cases such as the death of Joshua Osborne, aged eight months, who died after being shaken by a childminder, Linda Bayfield. She was jailed last year for three years and nine months after being convicted of manslaughter.

In 1986 Bayfield had been acquitted of smacking a two-year-old girl and there were other complaints between 1980 and 1992 but the boy's parents did not know that when they took her on. Theywere not even entitled to know there had been a complaint.

The system will not apply to nannies - where there have been several high-profile cases alleging abuse. They are exempt because they work in the home of the child and are not, therefore, recognised officially as childminders. But for the first time, parents will have some idea of a potential childminder's capabilities. In this regard, it would seem that access to an inspection report on the childminder on the Ofsted's website might be of more value than the crude "good", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" ranking.