Childcare fiasco

It's going to be hard to add anything useful to the rightful tirade against the latest story of state interference in how we live: the Ofsted inspectors who told two police officers that they were breaking the law by looking after each other's children. What worries me is not so much the bad drafting of the law (though that does bring law into disrepute) but the way in which the jobs of so many public servants seem to be set up. Somebody honestly believed that they were meeting their objectives by seeking out this breach of the rules; thought that, among all the shortcomings in children's education and care, this would be something worth pursuing. Are jobs and objectives defined so narrowly? Is anyone allowed any independence? Is anyone actually trying to inspire anyone else with a culture of public service to - in this case - children and families? Or did someone just say, somewhere along the line "you tick these boxes and you'll be OK"?