Childcare centres that abused the government scheme were stopped from enrolling children and had payments withheld, according to the Education Ministry.

The respective centres were cooperating with the ministry to rectify their position, a spokeswoman said.

The ministry was asked whether any action had been taken in the wake of the National Audit Office’s annual report that flagged abuse of the free childcare scheme.

READ: Childcare centres played with money

However, the ministry skirted a question as to whether the cases flagged by the NAO would be referred to the police for further investigation.

Charles Deguara, the Auditor General,  told The Sunday Times of Malta it was up to the ministry to take any action it deemed fit on the findings of the audit.

The reference to 60 centres that were paid €90,000 for booked hours that children failed to attend was not strictly an overpayment

In its report for 2015, the NAO found that some childcare centres tampered with attendance records to siphon off more public money from the free childcare scheme.

An electronic system introduced in January this year helped cut down on abuse, but the NAO still found problems after some centres kept the clocking keys (fobs) that were supposed to be given to parents at the facility.

The ministry said centres were officially informed that no fobs should be kept at their end and parents would be informed upon booking that it was their obligation and responsibility to keep the fob and use it correctly.

However, the ministry noted that the reference to 60 centres that were paid €90,000 for booked hours that children failed to attend was not strictly an overpayment.

“While NAO is interpreting this as being an overpayment to the centres, the childcare service needs to be booked in advance in order to ascertain a placement for the child, and therefore payment is done on the booked hours,” the spokeswoman said.

Childcare centres are paid a flat hourly rate per child for the number of pre-booked hours. The hours are linked to mothers’ work times, and an extra allowance is given to cover sickness and travel. It is when these hours are exhausted that the government stops making payments.

‘Don’t blame us all’

Only a handful of childcare centres abused the free system, and it is unfair that all have been tarnished, according to their representative, Simon Zammit.

The chairman of the Childcare Centre Pro-viders Association, an umbrella organisation, said that the NAO report was based on an audit of 10 centres out of 91 enrolled in the government-sponsored scheme.

Simon Zammit, chair, Childcare Centre Providers. Photo: Chris Sant FournierSimon Zammit, chair, Childcare Centre Providers. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“I have no reservations about the NAO report, and I will not defend abuse, but the way the findings were reported have cast a shadow on all of us,” Mr Zammit said.

He said most of the instances of abuse flagged by the NAO happened in 2015, when the scheme was still managed manually.

“During the transition to the electronic system, eight centres were caught abusing and the relevant action was taken,” Mr Zammit said, adding that they had now been regularised.

He explained the new fobbing system made it very difficult for centres to abuse, but parents also had to play their part by making sure they used the clocking tag properly.

“In no way am I shifting the onus of responsibility for abuse on the parents, but the amount paid from public funds could go down if they booked the number of childcare hours they truly needed,” Mr Zammit said.

He said that pre-booking of hours was important for centres, since they had to engage carers according to the number of children in attendance.

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