The legislation, is certainly complicated.

It says mothers who look after each other's children are generally exempt from the requirement to register as childminders if they provide the service for less than two hours a day or 14 days a year.

If one mother, Mrs A, goes to the house of another, Mrs B, to look after Mrs B's child, she is also exempt because it is considered home care. But if Mrs A took Mrs B's child to her own home, it would be deemed to be offering a childcare service.

The rules also seek to exempt babysitters from having to register by stating that registration is not necessary if the service is provided between the hours of 6pm and 2am.

Sleepovers would be exempt, provided they did not happen at the same address more than 14 times in a year.

If parents take their children to another location for four hours and stay in the vicinity, there is no need for registration. This is designed to protect creches at places such as shopping malls and sports centres.

The Independent outlined some of these complications today

"For instance, if you, as a working mother, ask a friend to look after your child in your own home, she is exempt from having to register as a childminder, according to Ofsted.

If you are working part-time and leave your child for fewer than four hours and "stay in the immediate vicinity", you are also exempt.

The message appears to be: find someone near your place of work to look after your child.

Finally, the legislation appears to protect babysitters by saying they are exempt from registering if they provide a service |between 6pm and 2am. What happens, though, if the parents return from a party at 4am?"


Fortunately as a result of this A spokeswoman for Ofsted said of the situation:
"Ofsted applies the regulations for the registration of childcare as found in the 2006 Childcare Act. We are currently discussing the interpretation of the word 'reward' in the legislation to establish if we might be able to make a change."