Like many other businesses, childcare providers rely on a good local reputation for their livelihoods.  When Ms F, a nursery owner in a small town in Kent, discovered that Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) had made mistakes in the report on their inspection of her nursery, she asked them to put them right. Instead, Ofsted published the report on their website.  They later declared the report null and void but not in time to prevent damage to Ms F’s business. Distressed, angry and embarrassed, Ms F contacted us asking for help.

We do not expect organisations to suspend their legal duties to publish decisions simply because someone makes a complaint. We do expect them to have mechanisms in place to ensure that those decisions are robust.  This is vital when the potential consequences of publishing a report that might be unsafe are so great.

Ofsted accepted all of our recommendations for remedy. They apologised and compensated Ms F for financial loss and interest on the money she borrowed to keep her business going during the period in question. They also agreed to review their policy on publishing reports that are disputed, and to notify parties if a report has been withdrawn.