Country Kindy Successfully Repels Ministry Of Education’s Aggressive Approach In Legal Action, Raising Renewed Questions

The Early Childhood Council has labelled the Ministry of Education’s approach in a legal action involving Country Kindy, a small rural Manawatu childcare centre, heavy-handed and aggressive, saying it points to fundamental problems in the Ministry’s culture, renewing concerns in the sector about the motivations of the current ECE regulator.

Many of ECC’s members are small providers much like Country Kindy. Small providers make easy targets for the powerful ECE regulator, but all providers are equally fearful of the Ministry of Education with its gigantic departmental budget of $3 billion, more than the total funding distributed to all ECE services in a year.

“MoE doesn’t seem ready to face accountability for what they did to Country Kindy. In this case they even engaged high-powered lawyers to try to bully its opponent into the ground – when is enough, enough?” said ECC CEO Simon Laube.

“Country Kindy achieved its objectives in its appeal and chose to discontinue the appeal. The Ministry objected to the discontinuance, even asking for legal costs. On 12 December, Country Kindy was vindicated; a District Court Judge found against the Ministry, and denied the Ministry costs. Country Kindy is considering requesting that the Ministry contribute to the legal costs it caused.”

“Country Kindy has remained focused on trying to address any relevant concerns that the Ministry raised over extended periods of time. The pressure on the provider and the impact on staff has been detrimental to everyone’s wellbeing.”

“This decision again shows that it’s possible for weaker parties to stand up against more powerful government departments, but the price of justice is high and we need more effective oversight when there are legitimate questions about the regulator’s performance,” said Simon Laube.

Note – timeline of legal action

• Country Kindy’s licence was cancelled by the Ministry in July 2024. With ECC’s support, Country Kindy took the Ministry to Court.
• Following legal action in July 2024, Country Kindy successfully addressed all compliance concerns and a full licence to operate was granted on 12 September 2024
• Country Kindy had to wait many weeks for the Ministry to release official information needed for its legal action.
• Following the reinstatement, the legal case was discontinued because Country Kindy was able to operate again with the licence.
• Country Kindy and ECC exercised their right to keep its legal options open so that if we get the necessary evidence, the legal claims could be renewed. However, the Ministry took exception, which led to considerable further costs for both parties before the matter was then decided in the Wellington District Court.
• Country Kindy’s approach was vindicated in the judgment.

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