Suitable people
General requirement
Providers must ensure that adults looking after children, or having unsupervised access to them, are suitable to do so.
Specific legal requirements
Safe recruitment
Providers other than childminders must have effective systems in place to ensure that practitioners and other people aged 16 or over likely to have regular contact with children (including those living or working on the premises) are suitable to do so. (In the case of childminders, Ofsted is responsible for checking the suitability of all those aged 16 or over living or working on the premises.)
Providers other than childminders must obtain an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosure in respect of every person aged 16 or over:
- who works directly with children;
- who lives on the premises on which the childcare is provided;
- who works on the premises on which the childcare is provided (unless they do not work on the part of the premises where the childcare takes place, or do not work there at times when children are present).
This requirement will be deemed to have been met in respect of all people whose suitability was checked by Ofsted or their local authority prior to October 2005.
Providers must not allow people whose suitability has not been checked to have unsupervised contact with children who are being cared for.
Providers other than childminders must keep records of the information they have used to assess suitability to demonstrate to Ofsted that checks have been done. Such records must include the unique reference numbers of CRB Disclosures obtained and the date on which they were obtained.
Providers must also meet any requirements of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) scheme once it has been implemented. For more information about the ISA go to 
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/
independentsafeguardingauthority and www.isa-gov.org
Statutory guidance to which providers should have regard
Disclosures should be handled in accordance with the CRB's Code of Practice and Explanatory Guide.
Providers should make decisions of suitability using evidence from:
- CRB Disclosure;
- references;
- full employment history;
- qualifications;
- interviews;
- identity checks;
- any other checks undertaken, for example medical suitability.
Providers should notify all people connected with their provision who work directly with children that they expect them to declare to them all convictions, cautions, court orders, reprimands and warnings which may affect their suitability to work with children.
Further information about responsibilities for carrying out CRB checks and about disqualification is provided in the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Specific legal requirements
Registered providers must notify Ofsted of the following:
In the case of all registered early years providers:
- any change in the address of the premises on which childcare is provided;
- particulars of any proposal to change the hours during which childcare is provided which will entail the provision of overnight care;
- particulars of any significant event which is likely to affect the suitability of the early years provider or any person who cares for, or is in regular contact with, children on the premises to look after children.
In the case of early years childminders:
- any change in their name or address;
- any change of the persons aged 16 years or older living or working on the childminding premises (a person is not considered to be working on the premises if none of their work is done in the part of the premises in which children are cared for, or if they do not work on the premises at times when children are there).
In the case of early years providers other than childminders:
- any change to the person who is managing the early years provision;
- where the early years provision is provided by a company, any change in the name or registered number of the company;
- where the early years provision is provided by a charity, any change in the name or registration number of the charity;
- where the childcare is provided by a partnership, body corporate or unincorporated association, any change to the 'nominated individual';
- where the childcare is provided by a partnership, body corporate or unincorporated association whose sole or main purpose is the provision of childcare, any change to the individuals who are partners or members of its governing body.
Where the specific legal requirements above require notification about a change of person, the information that must be provided to Ofsted is the new person's date of birth, name, any former names or aliases and home address.
Where it is reasonably practicable to do so, notification must be made in advance of the event occurring. In all other cases, notification must be made as soon as is reasonably practicable, but in any event within 14 days of the event occurring.
A registered provider who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with these requirements, commits an offence.
The Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2007 require registered providers to inform Ofsted of any court order, determination or conviction or any other grounds for disqualification from registration applying to themselves or any other person living or working in their household.
Statutory guidance to which providers should have regard
Registered providers should also notify Ofsted of any change in their telephone number.
Specific legal requirements
Alcohol/other substances
When working directly with children, practitioners must not be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance which may affect their ability to care for children.
Statutory guidance to which providers should have regard
Practitioners taking medication which they believe may affect their ability to care for children should seek medical advice and only work directly with children if that advice is that the medication is unlikely to impair their ability to look after children.
