Malicious complaints

[AdeleMarie88]

This is what worries me about being alone, at least in a nursery you have some protection. If someone was to make a malicious complaint it must be so devastating! All I do is check and recheck everything I do, polices, risk assessments, registers, and so on...
I am lucky with my parents, but I am vigilant when I am out and about because I have heard of some ridiculous local complaints! It's awful we have to be so on guard! At least we have each other!! Xx

[sarah707]

I am hearing so many dreadful stories about malicious allegations

Hugs to everyone involved. Stay strong and take advice. Don't let them get away with it xx

[TooEarlyForGin?]

I have had 2 complaints made and from what we think is the same person. And as Ofsted read them out to me she said it had been written by another childcare professional! The second complaint went to Ofsted days after they awarded me Outstanding....stating that they were gobsmacked i had been awarded an Outstanding.
Some very jealous people out there that dont like to see people succeeding...it has really hurt me as all i have ever wanted to do is provide a lovely environment for children to be happy and safe in.
A week later we than had a note through the door reading..."failure" We then decided to take this further and went to the police who have been fantastic and are in the process of getting the third party details from Ofsted as they see it as harassment.
I also wrote to Ofsted and asked for all info held on me to be released, they have done this but did black out the third party details. Hopefully know it is in the hands of the police the third party will get a warning!!!

Can I ask how it has gone with the police.

I have a horrible horrible horrible neighbour who HATES me and what I do. Over the course of 10 years what started with parking issues has consistently escalated into them writing some vile things about me. 2 years ago with the advice of a solicitor I wrote a cease and desist letter. Since then, instead of being openly vile to my parents and me, they write to the council. I had a couple of letters from the council asking me about how we cared for our animals (chickens and ducks - we live in a tiny rural village with lots of room) and another asking me about my sainsburys voucher banner. I replied to them, but thought that something must have gone on to warrant the letters. I did a request under the data protection act and discovered reems of stuff they had written about me, from rats running from my property, to "begging" for money because of the sainsbury's voucher. I cant even relate some of the other stuff as I cry every time. I had to call the police recently (I will not speak or engage them in any contact at all) as one of my parents was purposely blocked in. By the time they got there it was sorted and they sort of said "ah well, never mind one of those things". Since then I had further phone calls from the council checking I was all "legal" and did another data request and the LIES this ***** has said about me has given me so many sleepless nights caused major issues in our family. I have been accused of leaving babies unattended, screaming at children (in my northern trill - I now live in the south) having up to 8 cars a day and multiple delivery vehicles arrive, that I surely cannot provide food as my kitchen is small and I can't hold any food certificates, that children must be crammed in everywhere ................. on and on and on. One of my dads is a policeman and came to sit and chat to me last night and said that it is definitely a harassment matter but as their names are blacked out on the paperwork I can't actually prove its them. I have contacted the only other 2 neighbours I have and they are both going to give me a letter to state they have never had cause to complain and have no issues with me running my business here, so it will hopefully help. I have informed OFSTED who say they will mark it on my notes (I have spoken to them previously about these people) but will not take it as a complaint as they felt if the council weren't satisfied they would have contacted them immediately. All my parents have been brilliant and supportive. BUT I feel horrible, I don't think they have worked it out that they can complain to OFSTED anonymously, otherwise they would have done it. I live in constant fear that they will make up things about me. They are both retired and are there all day, my front garden is used for play and I am absolutely paranoid about a child making a noise. I am now seriously considering giving up, we are in such a vulnerable position and the feeling that people can do this to us and we have NO recourse or support.

Sorry to vent, but its very raw.

[Tulip]

ToEarlyForGin Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time, you must wonder what is going to come next! I don't have a lot of advice really just wanted to offer support.
Don't give up the childminding though cos thats what they want! x

[Bumble Beez]

I agree with Tulip...if you give up then they have won.
I can understand how you are feeling tho and all I can suggest is to keep working as you are, knowing you are not doing any of the things they are accusing you of...you are providing a superior childminding service for all of your families and no one has the right to pressure you into giving up.
A lot of malicious complaints come from jealousy as I have found out in the past
Keep your chin up and treat them with the contempt they deserve
Sending hugs xx

Sarah x

[Simona]

I am sure that allegations and malicious complaints are continuing and will continue but CMs need to do something about this...we are different in a way because we work on our own and may have no witnesses

we need to make sure we are reporting these to our representing associations who in turn can take it up with Ofsted....we will not be heard if we complain in isolation ...we have to make it a consistent practice

When a complaint turns out to be malicious Ofsted will have wasted a lot of time and precious money carrying out an inspection when they could have put the time to better use in inspecting those awaiting their first inspection ...and there are many out there.... or those 'inadequate' who Ofsted said they wanted to concentrate on

I am still in favour of the person who makes a malicious complaint to be charged for the inspection if that turns out to be unfounded
Many believe this will prevent people from reporting real concerns but I disagree ...it may just make those intent on causing trouble to 'stop and think' and maybe find out facts before they pick up that phone.

My pleas is yes share it here for support but also report it to those who can do something about it.

[FussyElmo]

I am sure that allegations and malicious complaints are continuing and will continue but CMs need to do something about this...we are different in a way because we work on our own and may have no witnesses

we need to make sure we are reporting these to our representing associations who in turn can take it up with Ofsted....we will not be heard if we complain in isolation ...we have to make it a consistent practice

When a complaint turns out to be malicious Ofsted will have wasted a lot of time and precious money carrying out an inspection when they could have put the time to better use in inspecting those awaiting their first inspection ...and there are many out there.... or those 'inadequate' who Ofsted said they wanted to concentrate on

I am still in favour of the person who makes a malicious complaint to be charged for the inspection if that turns out to be unfounded
Many believe this will prevent people from reporting real concerns but I disagree ...it may just make those intent on causing trouble to 'stop and think' and maybe find out facts before they pick up that phone.

My pleas is yes share it here for support but also report it to those who can do something about it.

Ofsted made this rod for their own back when they said full inspection for any complaint though I think they are seeing the only error as a few people are receiving letters.

There is a difference between a malicious comment and an unfounded one. A cm leaves the children in the car while she collects the other children from school. An complaint is made but Ofsted can find no evidence of this.

How would Ofsted determine between which complainants should be charged for the inspection. It could have been a malicious complaint or it could have been based in fact. Also being told you could get charged for making a complaint would put people of complaining and that could lead to extremely bad practise being carried on.

Im not entirely sure what you expect pacey etc to do

Malicious complaints are truly awful but like sarah has said cover your back on everything and I mean everything write everything down.

[Simona]

Ofsted made this rod for their own back when they said full inspection for any complaint though I think they are seeing the only error as a few people are receiving letters.

There is a difference between a malicious comment and an unfounded one. A cm leaves the children in the car while she collects the other children from school. An complaint is made but Ofsted can find no evidence of this.

How would Ofsted determine between which complainants should be charged for the inspection. It could have been a malicious complaint or it could have been based in fact. Also being told you could get charged for making a complaint would put people of complaining and that could lead to extremely bad practise being carried on.

Im not entirely sure what you expect pacey etc to do

Malicious complaints are truly awful but like sarah has said cover your back on everything and I mean everything write everything down.

It was meant to be a question Fussy Elmo to see what other CMs thought of the present system and debate it...I also mentioned if that would make real concerns not reported?

No one has the answer but I personally would report it to my representing association...that is what I want them to do: to be aware and speak on my behalf...other CMs may think differently of course but that is what this is about: expressing our views and consider what others think too...we are all different

[bunyip]

Whilst, in principle, I'd be in favour of passing the cost of inspection on to malicious complainants, I can't see it possibly being workable.

For one thing, Ofsted are naturally over-cautious cos that's seen as better than letting a single child protection issue slip through the net. It's also quite possible for a complain to be valid, but for Ofsted to not find sufficient evidence. eg. If a CM overminded but also falsified their attendance records, they'd ony be caught if Ofsted followed them around the whole time, or happened to turn up on the right day. There are plenty of other feasible examples too.

Does anyone really believe that reporting it to pacey will gain anything better than simply banging your head against the wall? There have been enough posts on these boards from victims of complaints who found pacey were not the least interested in supporting them.

Maybe that's because pacey are afraid that a campaign/investigation might just reveal the amount of malicious complaints which are initiated by other CMs and childcare settings. Which would further undermine the fantasy of referring to everyone in the childcare industry as "professionals."

[Simona]

Whilst, in principle, I'd be in favour of passing the cost of inspection on to malicious complainants, I can't see it possibly being workable.

For one thing, Ofsted are naturally over-cautious cos that's seen as better than letting a single child protection issue slip through the net. It's also quite possible for a complain to be valid, but for Ofsted to not find sufficient evidence. eg. If a CM overminded but also falsified their attendance records, they'd ony be caught if Ofsted followed them around the whole time, or happened to turn up on the right day. There are plenty of other feasible examples too.

Does anyone really believe that reporting it to pacey will gain anything better than simply banging your head against the wall? There have been enough posts on these boards from victims of complaints who found pacey were not the least interested in supporting them.

Maybe that's because pacey are afraid that a campaign/investigation might just reveal the amount of malicious complaints which are initiated by other CMs and childcare settings. Which would further undermine the fantasy of referring to everyone in the childcare industry as "professionals."

Thank you for your comment Bunyip....there are 4 representing associations that is why I 'suggested' reporting it to whichever a Cm belongs to if any at all...I am aware many Cm do not belong to anyone in particular

Some maybe not interested or even able to do anything but others may just take it on board and listen...my association is listening
the only option would be to put up with the current surge of malicious complaints...and of course I do agree that any complaint that refers to safeguarding has to be looked into by Ofsted, that goes without saying and was 'never' in question

When the complaints come from someone within the sector those who make the complaint may just know what Ofsted responds to compared to a parent who may have a grudge about fees which Ofsted have no intention of acting upon

[bunyip]

OK, let's just put press the 'pause' button on reality for a moment and assume that all EY practitioners reported all (apparently) malicious complaints to their respective representative bodies. And let's also assume that someone, somewhere in the ivory towers HQs of all these representative bodies decided to campaign about this issue. Would it be impertinent to ask exactly what we'd be wanting them to campaign for?

In other words: what's the end-game?

Easy enough to say "malicious/unfounded complaints are unpleasant". Yup, we know that. But what exactly do we want to campaign for in place of the present system?

Do we, for eg, want Ofsted to hand over responsibility for investigating all serious complaints to the police? That would then give them scope for charging malicious complainants with wasting police time. It would also involve panda calls rolling up outside CMs' homes. Is that what we want?

It strikes me that there's always going to be a price to pay.

[Simona]

OK, let's just put press the 'pause' button on reality for a moment and assume that all EY practitioners reported all (apparently) malicious complaints to their respective representative bodies. And let's also assume that someone, somewhere in the ivory towers HQs of all these representative bodies decided to campaign about this issue. Would it be impertinent to ask exactly what we'd be wanting them to campaign for?

In other words: what's the end-game?

Easy enough to say "malicious/unfounded complaints are unpleasant". Yup, we know that. But what exactly do we want to campaign for in place of the present system?

Do we, for eg, want Ofsted to hand over responsibility for investigating all serious complaints to the police? That would then give them scope for charging malicious complainants with wasting police time. It would also involve panda calls rolling up outside CMs' homes. Is that what we want?

It strikes me that there's always going to be a price to pay.

No Bunyip...that is not what I meant and we are coming from 2 different angles...I was not asking for them to campaign or hand over complaints to the police
Thanks for your comments though.

No worry it was just a thought...difficult sometimes to get clear in a forum and we have no associations that can reply directly to our questions

[bunyip]

No Bunyip...that is not what I meant and we are coming from 2 different angles...I was not asking for them to campaign or hand over complaints to the police
Thanks for your comments though.

No worry it was just a thought...difficult sometimes to get clear in a forum and we have no associations that can reply directly to our questions

Forgive me for being confused, but I must have my 'nice but dim' head on this morning.

The suggestion is that we report it to our representative bodies so they can take the issue up on our behalf with Ofsted, but with no clear objective in mind.............................................. .........................?

[FussyElmo]

No Bunyip...that is not what I meant and we are coming from 2 different angles...I was not asking for them to campaign or hand over complaints to the police
Thanks for your comments though.

No worry it was just a thought...difficult sometimes to get clear in a forum and we have no associations that can reply directly to our questions

Tbf Simona you did say this

we need to make sure we are reporting these to our representing associations who in turn can take it up with Ofsted....we will not be heard if we complain in isolation ...we have to make it a consistent practice

but you are now saying it was it a thought.

[Simona]

Tbf Simona you did say this

we need to make sure we are reporting these to our representing associations who in turn can take it up with Ofsted....we will not be heard if we complain in isolation ...we have to make it a consistent practice

but you are now saying it was it a thought.

I have said that I obviously did not make clear what I meant and it has been misinterpreted...no problem really
Yes I am saying report it because in some cases, not discussed in this forum, the complaint has had devastating consequences on the provider...we have no union so who better than the associations to take it up? and yes they do have meetings with Ofsted on a regular basis and, I assume, those meetings have an aim?

The thought was about hearing what others' views were about the situation and it was triggered by discussions at a couple of meetings I attended recently

While I agree that associations are different I also know some are not sitting in their ivory tower and are listening to our concerns.
I hope that clarifies the matter...sorry I brought it up

[Kerry30]

Really have some people not got anything better going on in their lives that they have to spend all their time thinking up ways to ruin other peoples lives!! My partners ex wife reported me to ofsted earlier this year just cos she wanted to cause trouble. As it was an allegation ofsted came and spoke to me but took no further action as it was all stuff that was only relevent to weekends when i dont work and as i dont mind their son, the lady said it wasnt anything to do with them. I also told her about my ex who kept threatening to report me to ofsted (for i dont no what). And she made a note. Makes me cross as there are c/m's out there that do things that flout the regulations constantly and get away with it.

[sarah707]

We have sent our views to a representing organisation - they said they would take it to Ofsted for us - and we have yet to hear any feedback from them.

It's been 2 months now...

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...-feedback.html

Note to self - chase!

We have tried to engage openly and positively with Ofsted and I am not aware we have any information to suggest that they are listening to us as they continue pushing on with full inspections after complaints - some of which are clearly malicious and made by someone with an axe to grind.

Our only redress is to be as ready as possible for Ofsted to knock on our doors. I have been chatting to a forum member only this week who was at the receiving end of a malicious complaint. She kept her wits about her - she had cast iron evidence to refute every point raised - she went through a full inspection - she came out of it with her head held high.

It has been devastating for her but she is stronger and more determined than ever to build a successful business as a result.

I really believe that's our only way forward - to support each other - to be ready - to document carefully. Nobody is helping us so we HAVE to help ourselves

[Simona]

We have sent our views to a representing organisation - they said they would take it to Ofsted for us - and we have yet to hear any feedback from them.

It's been 2 months now...

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...-feedback.html

Note to self - chase!

We have tried to engage openly and positively with Ofsted and I am not aware we have any information to suggest that they are listening to us as they continue pushing on with full inspections after complaints - some of which are clearly malicious and made by someone with an axe to grind.

Our only redress is to be as ready as possible for Ofsted to knock on our doors. I have been chatting to a forum member only this week who was at the receiving end of a malicious complaint. She kept her wits about her - she had cast iron evidence to refute every point raised - she went through a full inspection - she came out of it with her head held high.

It has been devastating for her but she is stronger and more determined than ever to build a successful business as a result.

I really believe that's our only way forward - to support each other - to be ready - to document carefully. Nobody is helping us so we HAVE to help ourselves

It looks like Ofsted are willing to engage in meaningful discussions with the sector as June O'Sullivan blog revealed today which I personally feel is very encouraging and positive...so #ofstedbigconversation has worked

Ofsted have been sent many worries about inspections and they did reply in 'general' in a NWorld article...if I remember correctly it was Sue Gregory who replied to general concerns

[Simona]

Sorry Sarah to come back on your reply but I had skimmed through it as news had come out and I was info sharing all over the place

I missed the comment about 'no one else helping CMs' so we have to help each other....totally agree but that means doing lots of things
I know a lot is happening and action taken to include CMs and highlight our position...I was part of some of it

Very little has been reported in this forum but that does not mean that nothing is happening or no one is helping/listening.... CMs are taking action to ensure we are included and not left to fend for ourselves

there is a lot going on but it cannot get reported here and as the discussion revolved around our representing associations there is little doubt the connection here with them is very weak.

I did ask about UKCMA but received no reply and yet they, and other associations have been in the news recently for various reasons....recently there have been meetings, press releases, various surveys, news about agencies, and much more

[sarah707]

I don't understand your post Simona. Members of any representing organisations - or owners / managers etc - are very welcome to come on here and tell us what they have been doing.

UKCMA have their own section - if they had something to say which was relevant to childminders then I am sure they are perfectly capable of coming on here and adding a post. The same with Pacey. PLA and the ICM one are not members as far as I am aware - but it only takes an email to request membership and I am sure it would be looked on favourably.

We try very hard to be fair - I have, for example, included them all in the comparison of membership and insurance options.

We have over 25000 members on the forum - I am sure someone would report if they thought there was something important to tell us!