All early learning services must meet the requirements of:
- their licence
- the Education and Training Act 2020
- the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.
Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 – New Zealand Legislation
They must meet all applicable licensing criteria:
Written direction
If we find a health and safety issue at an early learning service that needs to be addressed immediately, we may issue written directions.
Our written direction to the service will include:
- the conditions a service must meet
- the date they must be met by – this timeframe will never be longer than 10 working days.
Children can still attend the service while the issue is addressed.
If the service does not meet the conditions by the due date we give them, their licence may become provisional or be suspended.
See the regulation for written directions.
Regulation 54A of Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations – New Zealand Legislation
Provisional licence
We can reclassify a service’s licence as provisional if:
- it does not comply with the regulations or licensing criteria
- there has been a complaint or incident involving a child that needs further investigation.
The service can still operate on a provisional licence.
The provisional licence must be displayed clearly for whānau | families and visitors to see.
It states the conditions a service must meet by a certain date. If the conditions are not met, we may cancel its licence to operate.
The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations set out the conditions and duration of provisional licences:
- Regulation 15 – New Zealand Legislation
- Regulation 16 – New Zealand Legislation
- Regulation 17 – New Zealand Legislation.
Suspended licence
We can suspend a service’s licence if it does not comply with the regulations or criteria, and it is unsafe for the service to continue operating due to the non-compliance.
The suspension notice will state:
- the conditions a service must meet
- the date they must be met by.
If the service does not meet the conditions of the suspension notice, we may cancel its licence to operate.
Children cannot attend a service while a licence is suspended.
The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations set out the reasons we can suspend a licence.
Cancelled licence
We can cancel a service’s licence to operate if it has failed to meet the conditions of its provisional licence or suspension notice.
We can also cancel a service’s licence if the service provider operating a service has been convicted of an offence involving harm to children, violence, or fraud.
Children can no longer attend a service after its licence is cancelled.
The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations set out when we can cancel a licence.
