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 –
(i) a school,
hospital or nursing home,
(ii) a
home consisting of a care home service within the meaning of paragraph 4
of Schedule 1 to the Regulation of
Care (Jersey) Law 2014 (the “2014 Law”), or
(iii) a
home consisting of a children’s home service, child contact centre
service or residential family centre service within the meanings given to those
expressions in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the 2014 Law;
“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 and Lifelong Learning;
“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.
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) [3]
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[4]
(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 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.