Information to assist home-based applicants

The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 require a contact person to be nominated for each service for which a licence is sought, and this person’s name is displayed on the certificate of licence. The service provider is legally responsible for meeting regulatory requirements, not the contact person. However, the contact person must:

• represent the service provider;

• be able to respond to ERO as soon as practicable on any issue relating to licensing;

• have the authority to act on behalf of the service provider; and

• reside locally.

In relation to the last bullet point, a person will generally be considered to ‘reside locally’ if they live within the geographical boundaries serviced by a Ministry of Education office. Contact ERO to discuss further if you are unsure whether the contact person would meet this requirement.

Who can I get to sign my statutory declaration?

• Section 9 of the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 lists those who are authorised to take a statutory declaration.

• It is your responsibility to ensure that the person you select is authorised to witness your declaration.

• You will need to sign the statutory declaration in front of the authorised person you have chosen. Please be aware that after the declaration is made and signed, there must not be any alterations.

• You should check that the person notes on the form, with their signature, their full name and the capacity under which they are signing the declaration, e.g. Justice of the Peace, barrister of the High Court.

Who does the statutory declaration have to cover?

When the governance of the proposed service is made up of a group of people, the statutory declaration needs to cover the officers of the organisation that has identified itself as the service provider. In most cases, the deed of incorporation for the legal entity will determine this. The following table outlines the most common scenarios for service providers.

Is there any other matter that needs to be declared to the Director of Regulations?

Regulation 7 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 enables the Director of Regulations to require a statutory declaration for any other matter considered relevant. As per this regulation, the Director requires the applicant and those involved in the governance of the service to declare whether any governance members were previously registered with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, and that registration was cancelled for any reason.

How do I get the information I need from the people covered by the statutory declaration?

As the person signing the statutory declaration, you must satisfy yourself that the information supplied is correct. How you collect this information from the other people covered by the statutory declaration is up to you and your organisation. There is a range of ways that this might be done, including:

How do I decide how to respond to the statements on the statutory declaration?

• You must tick one of the options at the beginning of each statement.

• If the service provider is a group of people and an affirmative answer applies to one or more people you must answer in the affirmative on the statutory declaration.

• Most of the statements are relatively straightforward – people will know whether or not they have any convictions, adjudications of bankruptcy etc.

• The main exception will be statement (c) regarding health conditions. It is important to be clear about the difference between (1) a mental/physical condition that might prevent people from managing their role in complying with the conditions of a licence or obligations under the regulations and (2) any other condition that would not have this kind of impact. Relevant factors to consider might include, for example, health problems that require frequent hospitalisation or sick leave, or that might render a person unconscious or quickly incapacitated. Frequency and severity of those conditions might also be relevant.

What will the Education Review Office (ERO) do if I answer in the affirmative (ie ‘have’) to any of the statements on the statutory declaration?

If you answer in the affirmative for any statements, you must attach all relevant information in relation to the matter. Answering in the affirmative to any statement does not automatically exclude the service provider from being deemed fit and proper to hold a licence. Given the range of unique circumstances that may be identified, all decisions about whether or not to grant a licence are made on a case-by-case basis.

What do I need to do if something changes – new people become part of the service provider, or people’s circumstances change that make the statutory declaration incorrect?

Regulation 35 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 requires that a service provider must notify ERO as soon as practicable if any of the circumstances under (a) to (k) on the statutory declaration form have changed for any person who is covered by the statutory declaration. You do not need to notify ERO every time someone new becomes part of the service provider UNLESS that person’s circumstances make the information you have provided on the statutory declaration incorrect. Verbal or written advice of a change of circumstances will be accepted and a new statutory declaration will not be required. ERO will then review the new information and decide whether the service provider continues to be fit and proper to hold a licence. Given the range of unique circumstances that may be identified, all decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Important: If you intend to use the statutory declaration in subsequent licence applications for other services you may own or operate, the statutory declaration should be no older than 3 months in order to be accepted.

Providing a quantifiable benefit to educators, that is some form of payment that directly benefits the educator and that relates to the amount of work they do, is required to meet the provision for gain or reward. There needs to be a clear link between the payment received and the work completed. For more information, please visit: How providers can meet the gain or reward requirement - Education Review Office

When the Data and Statistics Act 2022 came into force, Ministry of Education was no longer able to calculate and then release the equity index number from the IDI for non-public organisations to input into the funding calculations. In late August 2023, Parliament passed a change to the Education and Training Act 2020 that allows Ministry of Education to release this data. The term used in the legislation for releasing the equity index data is disclose.

For sole traders the equity index number is considered personal information, as it is information about an identifiable person (the sole trader). Therefore, the legislation requires the Ministry of Education to obtain consent from sole traders to disclose the equity index number relating to the services they operate.

The information (i.e., your service’s equity index number) we seek to release does not contain other personal information and is calculated based on the children attending your service at a service level. The privacy of the children and families using services is protected, as data in the Integrated Data Infrastructure is governed by robust confidentiality rules and is de-identified.

The legislation also authorises the Ministry of Education to publish the equity index number for each service, which the Ministry of Education does for the school’s equity index. While we intend to provide each service with their number once calculated, decisions have yet to be made on publishing equity index numbers. Should the Ministry of Education decide to publish equity index numbers, we will seek your permission separately.

In the event you do not agree to the index being released or withdraw your consent in the future, the Ministry of Education will develop a bespoke equity index number for your service. This number may not accurately reflect the current circumstances of the children attending your service, which may affect your service’s entitlement to equity funding. 

Your consent will remain valid for the duration of your licence to operate your early childhood service. Should there be a change in ownership of your service to someone who intends to operate as a sole trader, the Ministry of Education will seek a separate consent from the new owner when they apply for their licence. 

For educators, a home-based service qualification means any of the following qualifications:

a. an early childhood education qualification that is—

i. at level 4 or above on the Qualifications Framework; or

ii. recognised by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand for registration purposes:

b. an early childhood education qualification at level 3 on the Qualifications Framework, completed prior to 1 June 2022:

c. a qualification developed by Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board at level 5 or above on the Qualifications Framework:

d. a primary teaching qualification that is—

i. listed in the Qualifications Framework; or

ii. recognised by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand for registration purposes:

e. an early childhood education qualification obtained overseas but recognised by NZQA as comparable to a qualification described in (a) and (b).

Educators who join your licensed home-based service must—

a. hold a home-based service qualification; or

b. within 6 months of joining the service, enrol in a course offering a home-based service qualification and complete the qualification—

i. within 4 years of enrolment, if the qualification is an early childhood teaching qualification at level 7 or above on the Qualifications Framework; or

ii. within 2 years of enrolment, for any other qualification.

https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/early-learning/people-and-employment/qualification-requirements-home-based-early-learning-services