Day Care of
Children (Jersey) Law 2002[1]
A LAW to make new provision for the
regulation of the care of children for short periods and for connected
purposes.
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“day care accommodation” means any place
where children under the age of 12 years are looked after for reward for a
period or periods the total of which exceeds 2 hours in any day and 6 days in
any calendar year and which is not –
(a) wholly or mainly used as a private dwelling;
(b) a place (such as a supermarket or hotel
crèche) where the parents of, or other persons who normally care for,
those children are not expected to leave the vicinity while the children are
being looked after; or
(c) a place which, in respect of those children,
is operating as a school, hospital, nursing home, mental nursing home,
residential care home or voluntary home;
“day carer” means a person –
(a) who looks after one or more children under
the age of 12 years in his or her home or other place wholly or mainly
used as a private dwelling for reward;
(b) who looks after any such child for a period
or periods the total of which exceeds 2 hours in any day and 6 days in any
calendar year; and
(c) who is not –
(i) a
parent or relative of, or person with parental responsibility for, all such
children,
(ii) an
appointed foster parent or a person who is fostering them privately, and
(iii) employed
as a nanny for all such children by a parent of, or other person who normally
cares for, those children and who is looking after the children wholly or
mainly in the home of his or her employer;
“Minister” means the
Minister for Education;
“premises” means day care accommodation or
the place where a day carer looks after, or proposes to look after, any
children.[2]
(2) Words
and phrases used in this Law shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have
the same respective meanings as in the Children (Jersey) Law 2002[3].
2 Registration
of day care accommodation and day carers
(1) The
Minister shall keep registers of day care accommodation and day carers and such
registers shall be open to inspection at all times.
(2) Any
person –
(a) looking after or proposing to look after any
children in day care accommodation; or
(b) acting or proposing to act as a day carer,
shall apply for registration
under this Article in such manner and accompanied by such particulars as the
Minister may require, and on receipt of such application the Minister shall,
subject to the provisions of this Article, register the accommodation or person
as the case may be.
(3) Where
a day carer registered under this Article changes premises, the day
carer’s registration shall cease to have effect unless and until he or
she is re-registered in accordance with this Article.
(4) The
Minister may refuse an application for registration under this Article if he or
she is satisfied that –
(a) the premises are not fit to be used for
looking after children, whether because of the condition of the premises, the
adequacy of any equipment used on the premises, or for any reason connected
with the situation, construction or size of the premises;
(b) the applicant or any person looking after,
or likely to be looking after, any children on the premises is not fit to look
after children;
(c) any person living or working, or likely to
be living or working, on the premises is not fit to be in the proximity of
children.
(5) The
Minister may, in the Minister’s absolute discretion –
(a) grant exemption from the provisions of this
Article;
(b) attach to any such exemption such conditions
as the Minister thinks fit; and
(c) vary such conditions at any time or withdraw
the exemption.
3 Disqualification
A person who is disqualified for
the purposes of Article 54(2) or Article 62 of the Children (Jersey) Law 2002
by virtue of Schedule 4 to that Law shall not –
(a) look
after a child in day care accommodation or be concerned in the management of or
have a financial interest in such accommodation;
(b) employ
a person to look after children in day care accommodation; or
(c) act
as a day carer,
unless he or she has disclosed the
disqualification to the Minister and obtained its consent.
4 Power
to impose requirements in respect of day care accommodation and day carers
(1) Where
the Minister registers an application under Article 2, the Minister may
impose any or all of the following requirements –
(a) specify the maximum number of children, or
the maximum number of children within specified age groups, who may be looked
after (having regard to the number of other children who may at any time be on
the premises);
(b) require the applicant to secure that the
premises and the equipment used on the premises, are adequately maintained and
kept safe;
(c) require the applicant to keep records in
relation to the children received, and persons living or working, at the
premises containing such particulars as the Minister may specify; and
(d) specify the training and qualifications to
be possessed by the day carer or any person employed at day care accommodation;
(e) in the case of day care
accommodation –
(i) specify
the number of persons who may be employed at that accommodation,
(ii) require
to be kept informed of the persons there employed, their names, addresses,
training and qualifications, and the facilities provided and the period during
which they are provided; and
(f) impose such other requirements as to
the health and welfare of children being looked after as the Minister considers
appropriate.
(2) The
Minister may at any time vary any requirement imposed under this Article,
impose any additional requirement or remove any requirement.
5 Certificates
of registration
(1) Where
the Minister registers a person under Article 2 the Minister shall issue the
person with a certificate of registration.
(2) The
certificate –
(a) shall specify the address of the premises
and, in the case of a day carer, his or her name and address; and
(b) shall be accompanied by any requirement
imposed under Article 4.
(3) Where,
due to a change of circumstances, any part of the certificate requires to be
amended, the Minister shall issue an amended certificate.
(4) The
certificate of registration shall be displayed in a prominent position in the
premises in which any child is to be looked after and produced or delivered to
the Minister when so required.
6 Fees
(1) The
Minister may charge such fees as the Minister may prescribe by Order for or in
connection with any registration or application for registration under this Law
and the issuing of certificates of registration, and such fees may be
prescribed on any basis, including an annual or other periodic basis.
(2) The
Subordinate Legislation (Jersey) Law 1960[4] shall apply to Orders made under this Article.
7 Cancellation
of registration
The Minister may at any time cancel
any registration under Article 2 if –
(a) it
appears to the Minister that the circumstances of the case are such that the
Minister would be justified in refusing to register the day care accommodation
or day carer concerned;
(b) the
care provided at such accommodation or, by such day carer, is, in the
Minister’s opinion, seriously inadequate having regard to the needs of
the children concerned;
(c) there
has been a contravention of, or non-compliance with, any requirement imposed
under Article 4; or
(d) there
has been a failure to pay any fee charged under Article 6.
8 Notice
of decisions
(1) Not
less than 14 days before –
(a) refusing an application for registration
under Article 2;
(b) cancelling any such registration;
(c) refusing consent under Article 3;
(d) imposing, removing or varying any
requirement under Article 4; or
(e) refusing to grant any application for the
variation or removal of any such requirement,
the Minister shall send to the
applicant, to the occupier of the accommodation to which the registration
relates or to the day carer registered, as the case may be, notice in writing
of the Minister’s intention to do so and the reasons for the
Minister’s decision.
(2) Every
notice under paragraph (1) shall inform the addressee of his or her right
to object to the decision by giving written notice to the Minister within
14 days of receipt of the notice, and where the addressee does so, the
Minister shall give the addressee the opportunity to be heard in person or by a
representative.
(3) If
the Minister, after having complied with paragraph (2), nevertheless
decides to take any of the steps described in paragraph (1), the Minister
shall give the person concerned written notice of the Minister’s decision
and inform the person of his or her right to appeal under Article 9.
9 Appeals
(1) A
person aggrieved by a decision under Article 8(3) may, within one month from
the receiving notice of that decision, appeal to the Royal Court on the ground
that the decision is unreasonable in all the circumstances of the case.
(2) Where
the court allows an appeal against the refusal or cancellation of any
registration under Article 2 it may impose requirements under
Article 4.
(3) Where
the court allows an appeal against such a requirement it may, instead of
cancelling the requirement, vary it.
(4) Where
the court imposes or varies any requirement under paragraph (2) or (3) the
requirement, or the requirement as varied, shall be treated for all purposes
(other than this Article) as if it had been imposed by the Minister.
(5) A
step of a kind mentioned in Article 8(1)(b) or (d) shall not take effect until
the expiry of the time within which an appeal may be brought under this Article
or, where such an appeal is brought, before its determination.
10 Protection
of children in an emergency
(1) Where
the Minister cancels a registration under Article 7, varies or removes a
requirement imposed under Article 4 or imposes an additional requirement under
that Article, the Minister may apply to the court for an order that such
cancellation, variation, removal or imposition shall have immediate effect.
(2) An
application under paragraph (1) may be made ex
parte and shall be supported by a written statement of the
Minister’s reasons for making it.
(3) The
court may make an order under this Article if it is satisfied that a child who
is being, or who may be, looked after by the day carer or at the day care
accommodation concerned, as the case may be, is suffering, or is likely to
suffer, significant harm.
(4) Where
an order is made under this Article the Minister shall serve on the registered
person, as soon as is reasonably practicable, notice of the order and a copy of
the statement of its reasons for making the application.
11 Power
of entry and inspection
Any officer in an administration of
the States for which the Minister is assigned responsibility may, subject to
the production by the officer of evidence of his or her authority, at all
reasonable times enter any premises and inspect –
(a) the
premises;
(b) the
children being looked after on the premises;
(c) the
arrangements made for the welfare of such children; and
(d) any
records relating to them kept as a result of this Law.
12 Offences
A person who –
(a) allows
children to be received into day care accommodation which is not registered or
exempted under Article 2;
(b) acts
as a day carer without being so registered or exempted;
(c) contravenes
Article 3;
(d) makes,
or causes or procures another person to make, any statement in an application
for registration under Article 2 which he or she knows to be false or
misleading in a material particular;
(e) without
reasonable excuse contravenes or fails to comply with –
(i) a requirement imposed on the person
under Article 4,
(ii) a condition attached to an exemption
granted under Article 2(5), or
(iii) the provisions of Article 5(4); or
(f) intentionally
obstructs an officer in an administration of the States for which the Minister
is assigned responsibility who is exercising his or her powers under
Article 11,
shall be liable to a fine of level
3 on the standard scale.
12A General
provisions as to offences[5]
(1) Where
an offence under this Law committed by a limited liability partnership or body
corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of,
or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of –
(a) a person who is a partner of the
partnership, or director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the
body corporate; or
(b) any person purporting to act in any such
capacity,
the person shall also be guilty
of the offence and liable in the same manner as the partnership or body
corporate to the penalty provided for that offence.
(2) Where
the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1)
shall apply in relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with the
member’s functions of management as if he or she were a director of the
body corporate.
(3) Any
person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an offence under
this Law shall also be guilty of an offence and liable in the same manner as a
principal offender to the penalty provided for that offence.
13 Transitional
provision
Any registration effected under
Article 42 of the Children (Jersey) Law 1969[6] which, had this Law been in force at the time of such registration,
could have been effected under this Law, shall, on and after the commencement
of this Law, have effect as if made under Article 2, and any requirement
imposed under Article 43 of that Law with respect to such registration shall
have effect as if it were imposed under Article 4.
14 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Day
Care of Children (Jersey) Law 2002.