January 2004 - Nursery World

Agencies ‘fail to vet nannies’

Fewer than two in five nanny agencies in the UK bother to vet nannies properly before putting them forward to parents as potential employees, according to a survey by the independent company Best Bear Childcare.

The company said that out of 849 agencies nationwide it had surveyed over the past 12 months, only 213 passed its test, while 338 failed outright.

Best Bear assessed the agencies with its ‘Helen Test’ – having an experienced, qualified nanny pretend to be a girl who is both inexperienced and unqualified and whose only childcare experience is with her sister, but who wants a position involving the sole charge of children. Best Bear found that some agencies were willing to send her out on interviews, having only spoken to her on the telephone and without verifying essential references.

The company added, ‘Some agencies put business before child safety and suggest dangerous embellishments to a childcarer’s experience. Many agencies have an inadequate understanding of the business, including a worryingly negligent knowledge of necessary qualifications such as the NNEB.’

Sally Harrison, director of Best Bear Childcare, said, ‘Despite the results of the survey, there are obviously good agencies out there that really care about he safe placement of childcarers, and thankfully we now know who they are.’ However, she declined to name any names ‘because legally we’re not allowed to name agencies’ and added that if Best Bear did so, ‘agencies could sue us over loss of earnings and reputation’.

Ms Harrison described the statistics as ‘frightening’ and called for the Government to ‘clamp down on bad agencies’. ‘Until such time as agencies are regulated, either by the Government or through a self-regulation scheme, we will continue to provide this service to parents,’ she added.

She said, ‘We are trying to show the good side of childcare. The Government needs to clamp down on bad agencies, and we support anyone who helps to keep good agency standards.

‘We want to work with all other agencies working to improve nanny agencies.’

www.bestbear.co.uk
sally@bestbear.co.uk
020 7352 5852