Fine for failure to log nappies is potty, say childminders

A COUNCIL threatened childminders in London’s “nappy valley” with a £300 fine unless they produced a record of how they had disposed of every nappy in the past two years.

Childminders in Wandsworth received a letter telling them they had to be licensed as producers of “commercial waste”. They were warned that as “transferrers” of waste they were under a duty to keep written records of “controlled waste” they had transferred “or a copy thereof for a period of at least two years from the date of transfer”.

They were then told that if they failed to produce a copy of the information within 14 days, they would face a £300 fixed penalty charge.

One childminder complained that she did not regard herself as a business as she only cared for two toddlers, one of whom was potty trained.

She explained she produced fewer than four nappies a day, hardly any more than a standard Wandsworth family who were exempt from the council’s environmental crackdown.

“The council officer I spoke to said ‘put it in writing or send an email’. I explained that I did what I have done ever since my children were babies, which is tie them up in a nappy bag and put them in the bin for household rubbish.”

By yesterday afternoon, two days after issuing the edict, Wandsworth council was in full retreat in face of the wrath of its 250 registered childminders and angry families. A spokesman indicated an overzealous officer had sent out the letter without checking it off with “council decision makers”.