Section 21: Duty of child minders to register
59.This section places a duty on child minders in Wales to register with the Welsh Ministers. A person must register as a child minder with the Welsh Ministers before acting as a child minder in Wales (subsection (1)). The Welsh Ministers may serve an enforcement notice on any person they consider is acting as a child minder without being registered, as a preliminary step to further enforcement measures if the notice is not complied with (subsection (2)). Enforcement notices have effect for one year from the date of service. An unregistered child minder commits an offence if that person has been served with an enforcement notice and goes on to act as a child minder without reasonable excuse (subsection (5)). Subsection (6) provides that a person convicted in a magistrates’ court of an offence under subsection (5) is liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5000).
