clarkywrx
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Just wanted to update this thread with some good news. My partner has successfully won her case against Ofsted and they aren't taking any further action. The solicitors did a lot of work to argue my partners case and prove the security guards version of events was unsubstantiated and there was no evidence to prove any of his claims. The solicitors costs were around £6000 and we are very lucky that my partners business insurance has covered that cost.
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Just to keep this updated. We've been given a solicitor through our business insurance and they will cover upto £100,000 in legal expenses. They deem we have over a 51% chance of defending. They have advised we source our own solicitors to take legal action against the security guard/store.
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Thanks a lot for that. I'll get that sent off to them.
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Would you be able to offer me any help on how to do this and who to send it to ? The actual B&M store or their head office ?
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Just wanted to update this. We've just received the email from Ofsted this evening stating their intention to remove my partners registration. The email states the security guards account of the incident which is blatant lies !! It literally is totally fabricated ! I've spoken to the store manager this evening who after being previously quite understanding and helpful is now saying he's been instructed not to discuss anything with me. I've told him I'll be requesting copies of cctv etc and he tried to tell me we have no right to see any of that ! I'm absolutely furious about all of this and to make matters worse I'm still waiting for our business insurance to confirm whether they can provide a solicitor to defend us under our insurance cover.
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Ofsted phoned my partner today and told her they are removing her registration and they would send her an email tomorrow with everything in writing. Their grounds are the security guard said my partner went to the store with the sole intention of shoplifting, he never once said my partner couldn't use her phone to contact the parents of the children and he never said my partner couldn't leave the store at any time ! All lies. Ofsteds main concern is my partner didn't make arrangements for the children in her care.
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I will be speaking to the solicitors this evening when I'm able to. I'm just totally at a loss as to how an Ofsted inspector can interview a security guard and make decisions based on his opinions and not facts !! I'm still waiting to speak to our solicitors this evening as they are extremely busy. One of the posts above says that as my partner hasn't been suspended by Ofsted, if they go on to remove her registration they leave themselves open to a claim for damages. Does anyone know if that's true as we also fail to see how Ofsted can now say my partner isn't suitable to carry on working but they've allowed her to work for the last few weeks ? Also, Ofsted have made no contact to the other parents of the other children who were with my partner in the B&M store at the time of the incident, surely their views on whether their children were put at risk or not should be taken into account ?
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We've just been informed by Ofsted they are removing my partners registration!! This is due to the Ofsted inspector interviewing the security guard at the store who's said he believed my partner went to the store with the intention of shoplifting and also at no time did he tell her she wasn't free to leave once she'd been detained! I need urgent help with this as I cannot see how ofsted can make this decision based on what the security guard is saying ?
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We've just received a letter today from Civil Recovery Solutions saying they've consulted with the B&M store and they accept my partners account of it being a genuine mistake and therefore won't be taking any further action and the case is now closed. if that's the case shouldn't Ofsted also now conclude their investigations that it was a genuine mistake which shouldn't affect my partners suitability as a childminder ?
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My partner has already given all the information they've asked for. She's asked how long it will be now before they make a decision and they said they need to decide if she's suitable to continue providing child care ! If she wasn't suitable, they've allowed her to continue working with children while they do whatever it is they're doing.
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We had a call from Ofsted again today. They wanted the details of the B&M store so they could go and visit them ! So yes she's still working and not suspended but Ofsted are saying they are yet to decide on whether to remove her registration!
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So after waiting all week for Ofsteds decision, we've had an email basically saying they need to do more investigations before they can make a decision !! Anyone know how long they can do this for as my partner is still working while all this is going on and we're just waiting and waiting to find out what they're going to do ?
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No she's not been suspended at the moment. The Ofsted inspector explained that she will pass her findings onto her manager and they will inform my partner by the end of this week whether they will be removing her registration. What I don't like is Ofsted saying the Police told them they would've arrested my partner had they attended the store at the time of the incident but they had no officers to attend. They've said they've only decided no further action as the store doesn't want to take it further. As I've mentioned above, this is not what the Police have told me personally. The investigating officer told me on the phone that it was their decision to not take any further action ! I don't know if the Police aren't telling the truth or Ofsted or both ! Surely if the Police would've took action at the time, they would've sent officers to see my partner at home ?
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My partner has just finished a 3.5 hour visit from Ofsted. We now have to wait yet again for the inspector to pass her findings onto her manager to decide whether they remove registration. There's lots of discrepancies between the Police and B&M, for example the Police told me there was no further action being taken on their part due to no crime being committed but they've told Ofsted the only reason they aren't taking any further action is B&M have said they don't want them to take it further. B&M told me they believed the Police were dealing with my partner and weren't happy when I told them the Police said no further action ! Ofsted are going to request CCTV from B&M so they can view it and compare it against my partners version of events. The whole situation is a mess !
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I do know the full details however I won't go into that now. What I was getting at is that in my partner and myselfs view those children are potentially at risk yet Ofsted deem that to be not the case. We are potentially facing the end of our business that my partner has worked hard to build up with my help aswell. The parents of the long term children we look after have become our friends and the parents say they view us as part of their family and would be lost without us. All this from a genuine mistake with no criminal charges or Police involvement ! If it comes across that I'm a little upset, it's because I am and I feel that if Ofsted remove my partners registration tomorrow there's little we can do about it.
