Currently the checks are obtained free through organisations such as Capita, which then claim the money back from the DfE. Some umbrella organisations handle the checks for larger providers for a fee.
Under the new arrangement employers and employees will have to pay £26 for a standard check, and £44 for an enhanced check, in order to be registered with Ofsted, and to be employed in a registered childcare setting.
The Government says this brings the early years sector into line with the school and social care sectors which do not benefit from a subsidy.
However, it emphasises that there will be a long-term cost saving with the introduction of transferable checks. By subscribing to a new Update system, employees will only have to apply once to the DBS for a certificate which can then be updated and viewed online as they move jobs.
A Department for Education spokesperson said, 'New arrangements mean that in many cases only one check is necessary, rather than every time early years workers change job. School and care staff have to be checked but do not receive subsidies, so this change brings the early years into line with practice elsewhere."
Applications for DBS checks will be honoured under the existing subsidy if received by 28 June.
SHORT NOTICE
At the NDNA, Claire Schofield, head of Membership, Policy and Communciations said this represents an additional cost at a time when the focus is very much on keeping costs down, and when nurseries will need to recruit staff to meet the two-year-old offer.
‘While the DfE is making concessions to early years we would like to know how much it is saving by removing the subsidy and how this saving is going to be deployed,’ she said.
‘Some nurseries conduct DBS on a rolling basis and it is currently not clear how much the update service will cost them.’
Nathan Archer, development manager at Lincolnshire Montessori, also feels this is an unwelcome development when there is so much talk of affordability.
He said, ‘I wonder how small voluntary operators will bear yet another cost? For larger operators, with a high turnover, the transferable check will be useful, but given the low wages of the sector, in many cases it will be uncreasonable to ask a member of staff to pay for the check.’
He added, ‘The sector has not been given much notice of this change and I’m sure lots of people will try to get their checks done before the end of June.’
CHILDMINDERS QUESTION GOVERNMENT THINKING
Childminders will be hit by the move as they will still have to pay for checks for people aged 16 or over living in the same household.
At PACEY joint chief executive Catherine Farrell believes the Government is demonstrating a lack of joined up thinking.
‘At a time when it is voicing its commitment to ensuring that frontline childcare providers are better supported and funded, the removal of the subsidy for enhanced criminal records checks will only serve to place extra cost burdens on providers,’ she said.
‘The timing of this announcement alongside the launch of the Government’s new start-up grants for registered childminders, which seeks to provide a contribution to the significant costs of establishing a nursery or childminding setting and support expansion of existing provision, demonstrates an alarming lack of joined up thinking across Government.’
The CRB and the Independent Safeguarding Authority merged last November to form the Disclosure and Barring Service. The move to DBS reflects a scaling down of what is defined as ‘regulated activity’. Under the new system regulation applies to around 5m individuals, which is significantly less than the 9.3m under the old regime. According to the Government it now focuses on those working most closely and regularly with vulnerable groups.
