Supplementary memorandum submitted by
a Registered Childminder
I wrote to you on 23 November regarding problems
I have had with Ofsted. Forgive me for writing again so soon but,
as I mentioned in my first letter, my MP had written to Ofsted
on my behalf and yesterday I received the reply that Christine
Gilbert sent. It addresses some of my problems, for example, I
had failed to spot the reference to social services checks which
is buried in the Guide to Registration rather than appearing on
the form where you give consent (I can only tell you what was
on the form from memory, mind you, as I didn't take a copy and
I'll never get another out of North Yorkshire. They were very
reluctant to give me the first one!), so I suppose it is fair,
if frustrating, to claim consent has been given. But the way others
were `dealt' with I found quite interesting.
I don't want to spend a long time going through
the letter. I don't know exactly what my MP wrote to Ofsted, as
he didn't forward a copy to me, which I would have expected him
to do. He based it on the same document I sent to you listing
my problems but you will notice that Christine Gilbert's letter
does not address all of the problems that I had.
The letter says, "Mrs xxx was not given
clear information about the impact of her son becoming 16 years
of age during the application process". In fact I was given
very clear information. I was told in no uncertain terms that
there would be no impact, which turned out to be completely wrong.
The same target of completing 70% of registrations
in 12 weeks is repeated. As I said in my first letter, Ofsted
deny that this is their target, and the target as specified on
the website and in the Guide to registration for Childminding
says, "Ofsted aims to complete the registration process witin
12 weeks of receiving an application". It might seem pedantic
to keep on about this but there is a subtle difference between
these two targets and only one of them can be correct.
Ms Gilbert says there is no "quiet time"
at Ofsted but again, it was an Ofsted inspector who told me that
I had applied at a very quiet time. They can't both be right!
I feel particularly angry at the statement that
"we check the format of our letters carefully". Checking
them when they are created, as Ms Gilbert admits, is not sufficient.
It is absurd to send out a letter with only a signature on the
second page. I wonder about the ability of someone who thinks
this is ever acceptable.
Ms Gilbert acknowledges that my calls were not
dealt with well. And that's it! She also claims that the National
Business Unit (great name for a call centre, I have to say) have
expertise on hand to help if they can't deal with a call. This
is just untrue. Their answer to almost any enquiry is that they
don't know, you can't speak to the person who does and that they
will ring you back, which they don't.
The last main paragraph refers to the filling
in of CRB forms by applicants. The instructions are NOT to fill
in the consent box, yet the CRB is processed as if this were filled
in. I don't really understand this. Ms Gilbert has repeated these
instructions and that I filled the form correctly, but not explained
how a CRB check can be obtained without consent. I was puzzled
by this and I still am. It's more a CRB issue than an Ofsted one
but it's Ofsted who tell you not to fill in the consent. I really
would like to know why CRB process a form on which consent has
not been given by the applicant.
I could go on. I really don't like complaining.
I don't want to spend my weekend on this and it makes me feel
like a mean and horrible person. I'm sure there are lots of hard
working people at Ofsted and some of the time they get things
right. But I have no choice other than to use Ofsted and nor do
thousands of other people. I resent my money being wasted on what
may be minor problems individually but together make up quite
a body of slackness and incompetence. I happened to mention our
local Extended Schools co-ordinator that I had found Ofsted quite
inefficient and difficult and she said, "But nobody has a
good word to say about Ofsted" as if I were silly to have
expected anything else. I think, sadly, that that says it all.
I am slightly worried that when I have my first
Ofsted inspection there will be a big black mark against my name
and I will either be given a very hard time or get a very poor
grading. I don't have much faith in their level of professionalism,
as you might expect. I don't really know what I can do about this
and it worries me a bit, but I wouldn't be being true to myself
if I let all this go just because I was scared. And I'm sorry,
this letter has ended up being a lot longer than I intended. I
have attached a copy of Christine Gilbert's letter,[20]
which was printed using one side of the paper only and sent in
an envelope three times bigger than was necessary!
November 2007
20 Not printed. Back
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