Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
Thank you for your letter of 23 June requesting
further information for the Committee's short inquiry into allegations
against school staff. I will take each of your points in turn.
1. Please supply a list of guidance produced
centrally for those involved in handling and investigating allegations
made against school staff (including police officers, local authority
staff, school leaders, school governors and others).
Guidance on Dealing with Allegations of Abuse
Against Teachers and Other Staff was first published in November
2005. The same procedures were included in Working Together
to Safeguard Children, published in April 2006. In November
2006, the guidance was incorporated into Chapter 5 of Safeguarding
Children and Safer Recruitment in Education. This came into
force on 1 January 2007.
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in
Education is aimed at all schools (maintained
and independent), FE colleges, pupil referral units and local
authorities in their education functions. It replaced a number
of documents including Dealing with Allegations of Abuse Against
Teachers and Other Staff.
Working Together to Safeguard Children
is addressed to practitioners and front-line managers who have
particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers, in
an organisation that:
— are responsible for commissioning
or providing services to children, young people, and adults who
are parents/carers; and
— have a particular responsibility
for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
2. What is the role of Local Safeguarding
Children Boards in dealing with allegations?
The Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB)
is the key statutory mechanism for agreeing how the relevant organisations
in each local area will co-operate to safeguard and promote the
welfare of children in that locality, and for ensuring the effectiveness
of what they do. LSCBs must develop policies and procedures on
"investigation of allegations concerning people working with
children" that are based on the guidance in paragraphs 6.20-6.30
and Appendix 5 of Working Together. As part of their monitoring
and evaluation function they should then ensure that the LA and
Board partners use the procedures effectively, and advise them
on ways to improve. LSCBs do not have a role in investigating
individual allegations.
3. Please set out (i) the procedures under
which the Independent Safeguarding Authority will review the suitability
of school staff to work with children, and (ii) the expected timescale
for that process.
From November 2010, all new workers, seeking
to work paid or unpaid with children, must gain ISA registration
before starting work. This requirement includes school staff.
From January 2011 we will begin to roll out ISA registration
to the existing workforce—those in post when the new requirements
came in. We expect full roll out to take around five years as
we estimate that, when the scheme is fully rolled out, around
11 million individuals will be engaging in regulated activity,
both paid and unpaid, and working both with children and vulnerable
adults.
Applications for ISA registration are channelled
through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). ISA registration is
expected to take around seven days.
As part of the process, CRB will gather together
the conviction and caution information on the individual, along
with any relevant local police information, and pass this to the
ISA. The ISA will consider the information and decide whether
or not the individual poses a risk of harm and should be barred.
They will then invite the individual's representations and consider
them before taking a final decision. ISA may also consider an
individual for barring as a result of information supplied by
referral from an employer, as happens now with referrals to the
current barring schemes.
The records of individuals who are registered
are kept continuously up to date. So if new relevant local information,
or a new conviction, comes to light this information is sent to
the ISA for consideration as well.
The law governing ISA's barring decisions is
set out in Schedule 3 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
and in secondary legislation made under the Act, in particular
the Barring Procedure regulations (SI 2008/474) and the Prescribed
Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations (SI 2009/37).
These latter regulations set out the list of offences that lead
to automatic barring under the Act. Section 35 of the Act sets
out the circumstances in which an employer must make a referral
and the Prescribed Information Regulations (SI 2008/3265) set
out the information that must be provided.
The ISA have provided some more information
on its decision making process. This is available on its website
www.isa-gov.org.uk.
4. Who is responsible for any decision on
(i) whether to hold an independent investigation into an allegation
and (ii) who should carry out an independent investigation?
It would normally be the decision of the employer
as to whether an independent investigation is done, and if so
who should carry that out. Paragraph 5.21 of Safeguarding Children
and Safer Recruitment in Education says:
"In some such cases6 further enquiries will
be needed to enable a decision about how to proceed. If so, the
local authority designated officer should discuss with the head
teacher/principal and chair of governors how and by whom the investigation
will be undertaken. In straightforward cases that should normally
be undertaken by a senior member of the school or FE college staff.
However, in other circumstances, lack of appropriate resource
within a school or FE college, or the nature of complexity of
the allegation, will require an independent investigator. Many
local authorities already provide for an independent investigation
of allegations in some way, often as part of the personnel services
that schools and FE colleges can buy in from the authority. It
is important that local authorities ensure that schools and FE
colleges have access to an affordable facility for independent
investigation where that is appropriate".
5. How can an individual challenge the content
of "soft" information disclosed at police officers'
discretion in response to an Enhanced Disclosure CRB check?
This is a matter for the Criminal Records Bureau
to advise the Committee on. However, I have annexed to this letter
a copy of the information from the CRB website on "How to
raise a dispute".7
June 2009
6 Cases where it is clear that an investigation
by police and/or enquiries by social care are not necessary, or
the strategy discussion or initial evaluation decides that is
the case.
7 Not printed. See http://www.crb.gov.uk/guidance/applicants_guidance/how_to_raise_a_dispute.aspx
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