NANNY and au pair agencies that do not properly vet workers on their books are placing children at serious risk of harm, a survey says today.

Research by the consumer magazine Which? found that many agencies that purport to offer protection against rogue nannies are giving parents a false sense of security by charging finders fees of hundreds of pounds to carry out background checks on candidates that never actually take place.

Of 20 agencies contacted by an undercover reporter for the magazine, five said that they would take her on their books as a nanny, even though she had no childcare qualifications and her only experience was baby-sitting for her sister’s children. Some did not even insist on references or a proper Criminal Records Bureau check.

The Times rang 20 nanny agencies around the country yesterday and the results show what a lucky dip choosing a professional carer for your child can be. Three agencies said that they would be able to find nannying work for a babysitter with neither experience nor childcare qualifications. Two of the three did not even mention a police check.

Instead, the agents began to give details of prospective families to the reporter posing as a would-be nanny and asked how soon she could start.

One nanny agent said: “Your lack of experience and qualifications are not a problem but you would need a police check. They cost £33.” A fourth agency said it was “not impossible” that they could find her employment.

However, it will reassure parents to know that the rest of the agencies insisted on a childcare diploma as well as at least two years’ full-time nannying experience and a police check. Several also said that they needed a first-aid certificate.

There are an estimated 100,000 nannies and au pairs working in Britain and they remain the only unregulated form of childcare.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said that although the responsibility for undertaking checks lay clearly with employment agencies, there was no substitute for parents checking references themselves.

He said that the department would set up a scheme to check child carers, including nannies, focused on training and monitoring criminal records.

“Only those that meet the criteria will be approved. Parents will be able to check directly that an individual who claims to be approved has undergone this approval process.” he said.

“Only parents using registered or approved forms of childcare will be able to get financial help through tax credits or employer-supported childcare. We expect that this scheme will be operational in April 2005.”

Some nanny agencies are now so concerned about the lack of comprehensive regulation that 30 of them set up the Association of Nanny Agencies (ANA) last week in partnership with the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses.

The ANA has a strict code of conduct to ensure that members check nannies’ backgrounds and ensure that they are fully trained to care for the needs of the children they are employed to look after.

The Which? researcher, who posed as 22-year-old Emily, told agencies that her only experience was as an occasional baby-sitter. One agency in the North of England told her that she would be suitable as a sole-charge, live-in nanny.

The same agency later assured another Which? investigator, posing as a parent, that all its nannies were qualified and experienced.

One London agency, which charges parents £999 to find a live-in nanny, agreed to accept a reference from Emily’s sister.

HOW TO FIND A MARY POPPINS

• Anyone can call herself an au pair or nanny.
• The 100,000-plus nannies and au pairs in Britain are the only unregulated form of childcare.
• The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, which includes nannies, has 5,500 members.
• Nannies usually take sole care of children and can charge £400 a week.
• Childcare experts advise parents to look for nannies with at least two years’ experience and recognised childcare training, such as NNEB, CACHE or Btec qualifications.
• Parents wanting to hire a nanny cannot obtain a criminal records check on the nanny themselves.
• A number of nanny agencies do belong to trade associations, but these are not backed by the Government.
• The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) requires its 75 member agencies to agree to a code of conduct, which includes a commitment to interview the nanny in person, to take up two references and to check original qualification certificates.
• The Association of Nanny Agencies has about 30 members. Its code says every possible check will be done on the nanny’s overall suitability and that they must be fully trained.
• Nanny agencies can charge up to £1,200 to find parents a nanny.
• Recruitment agencies are bound by a government code requiring them to check that “work-seekers have the experience (and) training, qualifications” necessary to work in the post they seek to fill.
• The official au pair scheme run by the Home Office is for students from certain non-EU countries.
• Au pair agencies use agencies based in the au pair’s country of origin to check references and qualifications.
• Au pair agencies charge parents £100 to £300 to find them an au pair.
• Au pairs live with a family and earn about £55. They should not work more than five hours a day.

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