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TIMES OF LONDON A police officer who was forced to abandon her childcare arrangements by Ofsted has called for inspectors to use discretion in cases where friends look after each other’s children, as the Schools Minister announced a review of the case. Detective Constable Leanne Shepherd and a colleague, Detective Constable Lucy Jarrett, worked on a job share at Aylesbury Police Station and took care of each other’s children on their days off. The arrangement gave the mothers, who are friends, “a bit more flexibility”, DC Shepherd said today. “It worked fantastically for two and a half years and work were really happy,” she added. “I was at home one day and a lady came to the door and said they had heard a report that I was illegally childminding. I thought it must have been a mistake.” Ofsted said that the police officers fell foul of a rule that prevents parents looking after other people’s children for more than two hours a day for reward. The inspectors claimed that the mothers’ reward was care for their own children. Vernon Coaker, the Schools Minister, said that his department was in discussion with Ofsted about the case. He said that although the law was vital to protect children, the Government must not penalise hard-working families. “My department is speaking to Ofsted about the interpretation of the word ‘reward’ in this particular case,” he said. A petition to scrap the rules governing reciprocal childcare has gathered nearly 7,000 signatures. DC Shepherd believes she and her colleague would have passed the requirements to register as childminders because they are first-aiders and have clear Criminal Records Bureau checks. But the process takes three months and Ofsted ordered them to cease the arrangement immediately. “It’s been very traumatic for all of us. I do understand that they have a job to do but I think this part of the law needs seriously looking at and they need some discretion. They [our children] were at absolutely no risk,” DC Shepherd told the BBC. A spokesman for Ofsted said that the watchdog had applied the rules for the registration of childcare laid down in the 2006 Childcare Act. He added: “We are currently discussing with the DCSF [Department for Children, Schools and Families] the interpretation of the word ‘reward’ in the legislation to establish if we might be able to make a change. “Reward is not just a case of money changing hands. The supply of services or goods and in some circumstances reciprocal arrangements can also constitute reward. “Generally, mothers who look after each other’s children are not providing childminding for which registration is required, as exemptions apply to them, for example because the care is for less than two hours or it takes place on less than 14 days in a year. Where such arrangements are regular and for longer periods, then registration is usually required.” Close relatives of the child such as grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles are exempt from the rules, he said.
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