| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Fallon : I am sorry, but I shall not give way.
Mr. Skinner rose --
Column 1214
Mr. Fallon : Records are also being kept to monitor the volume of inquiries from independent schools about the confidential list of barred teachers. This information, together with the records kept by the Department's teachers misconduct division, will in future give us a clearer picture of the use that independent schools make of the facilities to check new staff.
Where it comes to the notice of the Secretary of State that there is immediate concern about the welfare of pupils at an independent school, we now also consider bringing the known facts to the attention of all parents or of agencies that place pupils in the school. Those measures should help considerably in tightening up on possible child abuse in independent schools.
The Secretary of State does have a direct role to play in individual cases of misconduct by teachers, but that is different from the employer's role and comes at a later stage. His responsibility is to consider individual cases of misconduct reported to the Department and to decide in each case whether it would be appropriate to exercise his power under the Education (Teachers) Regulations 1989 to bar the person concerned from teaching and from work within schools or the youth service involving regular contact with children.
If a person is barred, his or her name is then added to the Department's list 99. That is a confidential list of people who have been barred by the Secretary of State, which is circulated to local education authorities, organisations representing independent schools, and other bodies concerned with the employment of teachers. At present, there are about 1,500 names on it.
All cases of misconduct reported to the Department are given very careful consideration. That is particularly true of cases of offences, or alleged misconduct, involving children. That is only right. Parents have a right to expect that their children will be safe when they send them to school, and the protection of children must be a paramount concern. However, I agree with the hon. Member that that concern must be balanced with the right of the teacher concerned to a fair and objective decision, taking full account of his or her representations and all relevant information about the matter. The Department's procedures are very carefully designed to balance the need to ensure that children are protected from unsuitable persons with the need to ensure fairness for the teacher and to observe the rules of natural justice. The Department is not an investigative agency--that is the role of the police and, where appropriate, local social service departments --but where barring is a possibility, we always attempt to obtain as much information as possible about the offence, or alleged misconduct, from those agencies or from the teacher's employer.
An individual being considered for barring is entitled to submit written and oral evidence and may submit a medical report. These procedures inevitably take time, but teachers who are faced with the prospect of being barred--perhaps for many years--from their chosen profession must have a full opportunity to put their side of the case to the Secretary of State.
It is also important to recognise that the Secretary of State cannot, and does not, bar anyone without proof. Where the teacher has not, in fact, been convicted of a criminal offence the Secretary of State must be satisfied that the allegations of misconduct are substantiated. He cannot act on the basis of unsupported accusations or
Column 1215
suspicions. We need firm evidence to support or corroborate the allegations as a basis for action. But where there is such evidence, and where the allegations are substantiated, we do not hesitate to bar the individual concerned from teaching and from work involving regular contact with children. This is, as I think the hon. Member acknowledged, a difficult and often time-consuming business and I would like to give the House a brief glimpse of it.Mr. Skinner : Before we get on to that point, what redress has Kay Black, who worked at an independent Catholic school in the county of Derbyshire, who made allegations about child abuse and who was sacked within six months? There were police inquiries and she has had no redress. The Department of Education has had the case ; it has done nothing whatsoever to help her. We have all these glossy booklets, but Kay Black is without a job. That happened in March 1989. She still has no employment. She is in Derby city hospital now having an operation.
It is high time that the Government were prepared to do something instead of waffling on. They should do something for Kay Black who, because of the Government's own employment laws, was not able to complain of unfair dismissal as a result of making allegations about child abuse. Having made those allegations, she has finished up without a job. The Government must get something done and let us have legislation to allow people like Kay Black to get jobs.
Mr. Fallon : The hon. Member has made his point and packed a number of allegations into it.
Mr. Fallon : It may well be. I shall certainly look into that matter.
Each year, we receive about 350 reports of misconduct, of which about a fifth concern offences or alleged misconduct involving children. Each is investigated as thoroughly and as fairly as possible by a small team of officials in the teachers' misconduct division. I pay a tribute to them for their dedication and commitment to what is often quite unpleasant work. As a result, in the year ended March 1991, some 54 people were barred from teaching, 41 of them for misconduct involving children.
I hope that the House will accept that no system, however conscientously and thoroughly it is applied, can
Column 1216
be guaranteed either to prevent misconduct or to prevent allegations from being falsely and unfairly made. Our procedures have been considerably tightened up over the last two years, partly in the light of the Children Act 1989 and partly in the light of a specific number of cases, mainly in independent schools and, indeed, mainly in boarding schools.I fully accept the statement by the hon. Member for Woolwich that those procedures must be fair, and must be seen to be fair, to the teachers concerned. Equally--and I think that the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst reminded the House of the balance to be struck in these matters--we have to put in the forefront of our minds the paramount concern in these matters, which is the protection of the child. In the way that the agencies co-operate on the ground, in the way that we liaise with the other Departments in Whitehall and in the way that we investigate these cases and apply the procedures that I have outlined, we seek to be as fair as possible to all concerned.
I can give the hon. Member for Woolwich the assurance that, during each investigation, the interests of the teacher are borne in mind. We always remember that there is a career at stake, a chosen profession at stake ; and each case in which an individual is considered for barring comes for ministerial decision. I can assure him from my own experience over the last year and a half that that is not a decision that is taken lightly. It has to balance the interests of the teacher, the seriousness of the allegations, the investigation that has taken place and the interests of the child.
10.29 pm
Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) : A teacher who makes allegations about child abuse in an independent school such as the one to which I referred earlier is treading dangerously. I am sure that Kay Black decided to try to make it clear to the people concerned that something needed investigating. But because she worked in an independent school, the LEA could not intervene.
In the last minute of this debate, the Minister should state that any future legislation will cover independent schools as well as LEA schools so that people like Kay Black can get redress--
The motion having been made at Ten o'clock, and the debate having continued for half an hour, Mr. Speaker-- adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
Adjourned at half-past Ten o'clock.
| Written Answers Section
| Home Page |