The English Are Also Nuts on the Babysitting Issue

A previous post poked fun at Michigan state bureaucrats for threatening a woman for the ostensible crime of keeping an eye on her neighbors' kids without a government permit. English bureaucrats are equally clueless, badgering two women who help care for each other's kids while they work. The common theme, of course, is that bureaucracts lack common sense - but the real lesson is that this is the inevitable consequence of government intervention (especially when politicians say they are "doing it for the children). The BBC reports:

England's Children's Minister wants a review of the case of two police officers told they were breaking the law, caring for each other's children. Ofsted said the arrangement contravened the Childcare Act because it lasted for longer than two hours a day, and constituted receiving "a reward". It said the women would have to be registered as childminders. ...The two detective constables, Leanne Shepherd, from Milton Keynes, and Lucy Jarrett, from Buckingham, told the BBC how Ofsted insisted they end their arrangement. ...Ms Shepherd, who serves with Thames Valley Police, recalled: "A lady came to the front door and she identified herself as being from Ofsted. She said a complaint had been made that I was illegally childminding. "I was just shocked - I thought they were a bit confused about the arrangement between us. So I invited her in and told her situation - the arrangement between Lucy and I - and I was shocked when she told me I was breaking the law." ..."To think that they would waste their time and effort on innocent people who are trying to provide for their families by returning to the workplace... Surely their time and effort would be better placed elsewhere." ...Minister for Children, Schools and Families Vernon Coaker insisted the Childcare Act 2006 was in place "to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children".