Can CCTV really stop children being abused in nurseries?

Warning: This story contains distressing content

"Genevieve came into the world very, very small, but she had a real love of food," Katie Wheeler says with a smile as she talks about her daughter.

"The day before she died was the first time she'd ever eaten summer fruit pudding - and she loved it. She just loved everything."

In 2022, Katie and John Meehan's nine-month-old daughter, Genevieve, died at a nursery in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

She had suffocated after being strapped face down to a beanbag and left for more than 90 minutes with minimal, if any, supervision. A nursery worker was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter, with the judge calling her death "absolutely avoidable".

Later that year, 14-month-old Noah Sibanda died at a nursery in Dudley, West Midlands.

Noah had been wrapped tightly in blankets and a nursery worker placed her leg across his lower back. Believing he had fallen asleep, the nursery worker then left him alone, but he was found not breathing two hours later. The worker was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for gross negligence manslaughter and the nursery owner was handed a suspended sentence of six months in prison for a health and safety offences.

In recent months, other shocking cases have emerged. Nursery worker, Vincent Chan, was jailed for 18 years for abusing children in his care in north-west London. And in Bristol, Nathan Bennett was sentenced to 30 years for a series of sexual offences against children.

Now, ministers in England have asked experts whether CCTV should be required in all nurseries, and a committee of MPs is also examining whether children in early years settings are properly protected.

Across the rest of the UK, there are no plans to make CCTV mandatory. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the decision to have CCTV is left to individual providers, with cameras allowed, but not required.

Elsewhere, similar conversations are happening - Australia is currently trialling cameras in 300 childcare centres.

But both Genevieve and Noah died despite there already being CCTV in their nurseries - though it later helped bring the perpetrators to justice.

So would a national roll out of CCTV really prevent abuse? And do recent high-profile cases suggest our nurseries are becoming less safe?

Why CCTV is being discussed

It was only when police reviewed CCTV footage of Genevieve's nursery that the truth about her death came out.

Katie and John said they had initially been told she died in her sleep.

"We'd still be wondering that to this day", John says, adding that without CCTV there would have been no trial and no justice.

The couple, alongside the Lullaby Trust charity, are campaigning for CCTV to be installed in every nursery. They also want footage to be reviewed by Ofsted as part of inspections to give an unfiltered view of nursery practices.

If Ofsted had visited Genevieve's nursery before she died and checked the CCTV, John believes inspectors would have picked up on the unsafe sleep practices they were using. Footage reviewed by police also showed children being verbally abused and ill-treated.

"It's very likely that something would have happened and Genevieve wouldn't have died," he says.

A survey by the National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) in April suggested that, out of 276 nursery groups and nurseries who responded, 94 currently use CCTV, 98 have no plans to introduce it and 84 are considering it - indicating that only around a third of nurseries have it installed.

Is abuse actually on the rise?

While the vast majority of deaths or serious injuries happen in the home, a BBC investigation recently found a 40% rise in the number of serious incidents reported by staff to Ofsted in nurseries in England between 2019 and 2024, compared with the previous five years.

The question is whether or not these figures indicate an increase in actual abuse.

Jayne Coward, who oversees early years policy at Ofsted, told MPs at the Education Committee that "the overwhelming majority of early years settings are safe".

She said that the rise in reported incidents may reflect growing confidence in the reporting system, with staff members more willing to raise concerns than in the past. Some had previously feared consequences if they spoke out.

These serious incidents include accidents, illnesses and injuries - not just safeguarding concerns.

Tim McLachlan, chief executive of the NDNA, says it's right that nurseries report any incidents so that Ofsted can then consider whether it triggers an inspection.

He says instances of abuse in nurseries are rare but "one is too many".

"There are cases of abuse elsewhere in our society which equally devastate lives, but I think because of the nature of our children and youngest children being so vulnerable, that's why they are higher profile."

Current data published by the child safeguarding review panel on serious safeguarding incidents involving child deaths or serious harm does not routinely identify where the incident took place, so experts say it's difficult to know whether abuse in nurseries is increasing.

However, in response to the recent cases, Ofsted now inspects early years settings every four years, instead of every six years.

Many parents are now asking nurseries if they have CCTV, due to recent headlines.

Supporters argue that it can act as a deterrent, with one parent saying "it screams 'red flag' if places are against having CCTV, if they have got nothing to hide".

In Bristol, Nathan Bennett was arrested after being caught on camera by a nursery manager inappropriately touching a child. The footage helped secure his conviction.

Others believe CCTV can help spot bad practice before something happens.

Campaign for Gigi, named after Genevieve, and led by her parents and the Lullaby Trust, argue that inspectors should have the option of looking back on previous days to see if safe sleeping techniques were being used or child to staff ratios were being kept, for example.

"The majority of settings are doing an incredible job", the charity's CEO, Jenny Ward, says.

"But we want to have the reassurance that there is somebody looking and checking. CCTV shouldn't just be there to pick up what's happened when it goes wrong."

Chalk Nursery has already installed cameras at its sites in Bristol and London. The cameras cover children's rooms, outdoor spaces and reception areas.

Operations director, Bethany Patrick, believes it acts as a deterrent, showing providers they are being closely watched and expected to meet high standards.

"We've just acquired a new setting, and introducing CCTV over the coming weeks is a key priority for us," Patrick adds, "it adds another layer of reassurance for families".

She supports its wider use across the sector but is worried about the cost for smaller settings – and she is not keen on the idea of footage being reviewed as part of Ofsted inspections, as she believes inspectors should be able to identify poor practice in person rather than relying on video.

At Bright Little Stars nursery in north London, they have gone one step further - parents are given limited access to live footage from their child's room, with up to 15 minutes of viewing permitted each day.

The idea is to let parents "drop in" and see their child playing, but access isn't available all day, in order to balance transparency with privacy and trust in staff.

"Parents can only log in when their child is in nursery," nursery director, Mandy Guttadauro, explains. "They must also sign a parent contract not to share their login details or take screenshots."

Guttadauro says the system can be a deciding factor for parents choosing the nursery but says it requires investment in encrypted software, camera systems and staff training to ensure it is used safely and effectively.

Others in the industry say the system could bring additional privacy concerns and sometimes leads to misinterpretation.

"It can fuel anxiety in parents who are watching the app and maybe misconstruing something that has happened in a room," one nursery owner said.

Why cameras may not be enough

Some argue CCTV would be impractical in settings that use rented spaces, including pack-away provision, forest schools and home-based childcare, and that it would be a big cost for small nurseries.

NDNA's Tim McLachlan warns that CCTV "is not a silver bullet" and opposes making it mandatory.

Former detective constable and childminder Emma Muir says she has seen how easily CCTV footage can be worked around.

"If someone is determined to do something illegal, they know where cameras are positioned and how to avoid them.

"Installing cameras can create a false sense of security that is actually more dangerous than no cameras at all", Muir argues.

And there are worries about security risks. In one recent ransomware attack, the nursery chain Kido was hacked and the personal details and photos of children were held to ransom.

Mike Short from Unison, which represents 50,000 early years workers, told MPs there were very mixed views among the workforce, saying while it is potentially helpful with the right safeguards in place, and can also protect staff against false allegations, it is no substitute for training and preventing things happening in the first place.

For many, the priority should be strengthening a culture of whistleblowing as well as regular staff training.

Alongside its CCTV trial, Australia has also introduced a national workforce register of everyone working in childcare after a number of abuse cases – a measure now being considered in England.

Australia's Education Minister Jason Clare said it wasn't a "guarantee" of safety but is "an essential component" to keeping children safe.

But mandatory CCTV remains controversial. Child safety expert and former child abuse detective Kristi McVee says CCTV can help reassure parents, but it is not the complete solution. "It doesn't stop a determined offender", she says.

Instead McVee believes removing phones from nursery workers and better supervision and staffing levels are more effective.

In Australia, like here in the UK, the sector is a mixture of for-profit and not-for-profit providers. It is heavily government-subsidised and also suffering from a recruitment crisis.

Rapid growth and a recruitment crisis

In England, the industry has grown rapidly over the last few years – with an additional 70,000 extra places and 35,000 staff needed for the expansion of government funded childcare according to Department for Education estimates.

Staff turnover remains very high, particularly in privately run nurseries, at around 16% a year.

"The largest expansion was rolled out at a time when there was an acute recruitment and retention crisis in the sector", says Sarah Ronan of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, an advocacy organisation.

If we are talking about safeguarding, we have to talk about low pay, the wider workforce problems, and building a culture where people feel safe to call things out, she adds.

The Department for Education in England says the government would look at all the options the review panel recommends on CCTV and digital devices – and that it had already updated guidance on safe sleeping practices, implemented tougher recruitment checks, clearer whistleblowing procedures, and new training standards.

There is broad agreement that CCTV, if used, can only ever be part of the answer.

Adequate references and DBS checks, staff training, a culture of whistleblowing and more unannounced inspections have all been mentioned as other parts of the jigsaw.

Genevieve's parents, John and Katie, believe that parents are becoming more empowered to ask questions.

"We've never thought that having CCTV on its own was going to be the cure," Katie says, "but it has to be part of a package of measures".

They say they will continue pushing for change.

Top image credit: Getty Images

Additional reporting: Florence Freeman

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