Cheshire childminder of 18 years claims she's being made to 'feel like a criminal'
But council says she needs planning permission
Childminder Deborah Nolan(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A childminder claims she's being made to "feel like a criminal" despite running her home-based childcare business for almost ten years with no issues. Deborah Nolan, 49, has been a childminder for 18 years and will reach a decade of operating from her family home in Widnes by the end of 2026.
During this time, she said her childcare provision has always remained Ofsted-compliant and she has never experienced any safeguarding concerns or neighbour complaints. But the local authority says "planning permission has not been sought" by the mum-of-three who could face enforcement action.
Deborah told the ECHO: "In September 2025 childcare providers across the country were encouraged to expand as the amount of government funded childcare doubled from 15 to 30 hours for children under two. For me, personally I didn't expand my small business, I just accommodated the additional hours for the children I already had enrolled."
Later that September, Halton Borough Council carried out what Deborah described as a routine financial audit. Following the visit, she said she was informed there was a planning issue relating to the number of children she was caring for. Deborah said: "I work with two assistants, my daughters-in-law Sionan, 28, and Ellis, 22, and I'm well within the required ratios.
"We are governed by Ofsted and that has always been who we answer to. Adult-to-child ratios are six children to one adult and we have three adults. The maximum number of children we've ever had at one time was 13 for only an hour once a week. Planning officers from Halton Borough Council got involved and tried to say there had been a material change of use of the property despite nothing about my family home or the way I operate changing.
"The council has known how I have operated for years from my assistants to the number of children we look after, and there has never been an issue. These problems only started after the funding change in September." Halton Borough Council say Deborah has not considered the planning rules around operating a business from her home and that planning permission needs to be sought because the number of children being looked after and the amount of staff at the business constitutes a change of use of the property.
Deborah said she contacted her local MP for support, is cooperating with everything that's been asked of her and has attended all the planning meetings. She claims the council have outlined three possible courses of action. "If I do nothing a formal enforcement notice will be issued and I'll have 28 days to lodge an appeal. I can submit a planning appeal but Halton Borough Council said they're not inviting appeals so it would likely be refused unless I reduce my numbers or I can reduce my numbers to six now."
"This is happening to other childminders in the area and it's a situation that poses a massive threat to my livelihood and could potentially put so many families out of work. The demand for early years provision for childcare in Halton is unbelievable and if people can't get childcare then they can't go to work.
"They've told me they want to work with me to find a solution, but instead it feels like they've dug their heels in with this number six. It feels like an arbitrary number they've just plucked from nowhere because it's not a policy in writing." Deborah said she's had to hire an independent planning consultant to help her break down the complicated planning process ahead of the deadline she's been given at the end of March.
"Trying to fight this is going to cost me my life savings. The planning process itself is expensive and given I've been told they're not inviting applications I'm most likely going to have to appeal regardless and then that's even more money. I'm just a normal person trying to do their job. I haven't got loads of money sitting in the bank but what I do have is all going to go to hopefully getting this sorted out. They've made me feel like a criminal and like I've done something seriously wrong."
At the planning meetings she's attended Deborah said the subject of her home being a terraced house is constantly brought up. "I've offered to provide measurements of my floor space, as I am well within Ofsted limits. They've even tried to pick apart our garden room. We had building control come out, and they said they couldn't see an issue and didn't know what the problem was.
"It's having a massive impact on my health. I'm a bag of nerves. I've been to the doctor because I've not been sleeping for months and I just can't stop crying. I'm not someone who can let people down. How can I look at my register and decide which six children to keep and who has to go?
"I've got families who have been with me since their eldest children, who are now in their twenties, and their youngest children are still with us. I'm going to fight the fight. It's exhausting but as my sons Liam (29), Kavan (26) and Peter (22) say we're Team Childminder all the way."
A spokesperson for Halton Borough Council said: "In recent months we have identified a number of childminders who, while working in line with the Ofsted ratios and providing childcare appropriately, they have not all considered planning implications for operating a business with employees from their homes.
"Ofsted has always advised childminders on the need to check for planning approval. In Ms Nolan's case, the number of children at this property and the employment of childcare assistants indicates that there has been a change of use of the property.
"Planning permission has not been sought by the owner. If an enforcement notice is issued, then an appeal can be made against this notice to the planning inspectorate. We continue to offer support to all childminders, while also ensuring that the provision is compliant and in line with our duties regarding childcare sufficiency and welfare requirements."