1.1

Local Regulatory Body and their Role

My local and current Regulatory body (in Wales) is Care and Social Services inspectorate in Wales (CSSIW). The role of CSSIW is to make professional assessments and judgements about social care, early years and social services.

CSSIW need to ensure that a suitable person is providing the childcare and they are able to promote an environment where children are well cared for, safe and their learning and development is well catered for ensuring that they meet the national minimum standards for regulated child care in Wales.

Home-based childcare requires CSSIW registration, which means that checks are made on the person who is planning on providing the care and any other person aged 16 or over who live on premises.

Once registration has been applied for, Inspections are carried out on the setting and the childminder. An inspector will carry out checks on the service offered and they produce a report (which is available on the websites of the regulatory bodies and must be offered to parents). Checks include the safety of the setting; they may require changes to be made to ensure the setting is safer for children.

If there is a complaint or concern about the setting, an inspector may carry out an investigation into the childcare service. They will make sure that the childminder is meeting and complying with the welfare requirements (this is in addition to an inspection).

If the setting does not meet the welfare requirements or standards of the country, the regulatory body can take actions against the childminder. This may result in the childminder being invited to a briefing meeting, held by the local authorities, who will provide more details of the requirements of registration and they will assist with the completion of forms and other paperwork.

Childminder paperwork and forms for CSSIW include the following:

• Completion of an application form

• Apply to the disclosure and barring service (DBS) for an enhanced disclosure for you and any person aged 16 or over.

• Health check with their doctor

• Pay CSSIW Registration fee

CSSIW require Childminders to be First Aiders (which they must always keep up-to-date), attend a local pre-registration briefing and work and personal references.

In my area (Wales) – CSSIW require the following welfare requirements:

• Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare

• Suitable people

• Suitable premises, environment and equipment

• Organisation

• Documentation

Once becoming a registered childminder, childminders are given a certificate of registration which must be on display and shown to parents.

After the initial CSSIW inspection, inspections are carried out every 2 years unless there’s a concern for a child/ren’s welfare. Childminders have to produce a quality of care review, which has to be submitted to CSSIW.

The self-evaluation form asks childminders to provide information about the setting, the views of those who use the setting, the quality of the provision, the outcomes for the children – do children feel safe, achieve and enjoy their learning, adopt healthy lifestyles, make a positive contribution and develop skills for the future? The form also covers questions regarding the outcomes for children in the EYFS, leadership and management, how effective the promotion of equality and diversity is, the effectiveness of safeguarding children, the effectiveness of the self-evaluation form, how you plan to improve the practice in place, the effectiveness of partnership and the statutory requirements.

Following on from this, the inspection report produced by CSSIW will cover the description of the setting, the overall effectiveness of the Early Years provision, what steps need to be taken to improve the provision further, the leadership and management of the provision and the quality standards of the Early Years provision. Each of these areas will