Schools Law Brief

25 April 2008

New Vetting Scheme will start in 2009

We reported in the February edition of Schools Law Brief on progress towards implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The Home Office has now announced that the new system will go live from 12 October 2009, a year later than the original target date.

The system follows recommendations by the Bichard Report following the conviction of Ian Huntley, a school caretaker, for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. As explained in the February edition, the Independent Safeguarding Authority will maintain two lists of people banned from work with either children or vulnerable adults. Both lists will be constantly updated using information collated by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

Schools will still need to obtain enhanced disclosures from the CRB in order to assess whether a candidate for any post in a school is suitable. This is because the criteria for banning will relate to safeguarding issues, not malpractice. This means that some people who are currently on List 99 may not be transferred to the new lists. An example might be where a teacher was placed on List 99 for helping pupils to cheat in examinations. Such cases will now be dealt with entirely by the General Teaching Council.

The Home Office also announced the charges for the new system. Applicants for registration under the Scheme will pay a one-off fee of £64. This includes an ISA registration fee of £28 and a CRB enhanced disclosure fee, currently £36. There will be no cost for volunteers, although there will be mechanisms to ensure that people do not evade the registration fee by registering as a volunteer and then going into paid employment where registration is required.

Please click here for more details of the scheme.

For further information contact Richard Hewitt on 0117 314 5320 or at rhewitt@vwl.co.uk.

Childcare Act 2006 - Exemptions from Registration

Many independent schools operate nurseries or other early years provision as part of the school's operations. Previously this provision was not required to be registered but it was brought into the registration regime in 2005, with the exception of "nursery education" for children over 3 years. The Childcare Act 2006 will introduce a completely new system for registration and inspection of early years education and care. It is being implemented in stages and will be fully in force by the autumn of 2008. The definition of "childcare" in the Act is very broad. However, the Act includes a power for the Secretary of State to make exemptions to the requirement for registration.

Following public consultation, the government has now published an Order exempting certain types of care for young children from registration. Some of these exemptions are the same as under the current legislation. For example, care provided in the parents' own home by a nanny will continue to be exempt. Also, existing legislation exempts childcare provision which operates for less than two hours per day. This will be changed to exempt provision where individual children are looked after for less than two hours per day.

Where care is provided in a school (including an independent school) for children under 3, this must be registered but the new Order provides an exemption for care for children who are admitted to a school when they are under 3 years old but who will reach their 3rd birthday before the end of their first term at the school.

There are other exemptions covering:

Short term care in e.g. shopping centres, sports centres or mobile crèches at exhibitions or festivals.
Home tutors
Open access schemes, e.g. adventure playgrounds
Activity based provision e.g. sport, music or drama or religious instruction

For further information contact Emma-Jane Burnell on 0117 314 5465 or at eburnell@vwl.co.uk.

Proposals for changes to inspection of boarding schools and children's homes

Ofsted has opened a consultation on proposals to change the current inspection arrangements for boarding schools and children's homes which offer education on the premises. The proposals have the laudable aim of reducing bureaucracy.

Historically, welfare provision at residential schools was inspected separately from educational provision, originally by social services and then by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). Ofsted took over CSCI's role from 1 April 2007. Ofsted therefore currently publishes separate reports on education, safeguarding and welfare. The proposal is to have a single inspection which covers both educational and welfare issues.

There are also proposals to institute a two day notice period for inspections although children's homes will continue to receive no-notice inspections as at present. When a welfare inspection for a children's home coincides with an education inspection, however, there will be a single visit and a single report.

The National Minimum Standards and appropriate regulations will continue to apply although these are under review with any changes to be introduced in 2009.

The consultation closes on 12 June 2008 and can be viewed at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/080052.

The results of the consultation will be published at the end of June and the intention is for any changes to be implemented in September 2008.

For further information contact: Kris Robbetts on 0117 314 5427 or at krobbetts@vwl.co.uk.

Child Protection on the internet

In the 20 September 2007 edition of Schools Law Brief we drew attention to the issues raised by abuse of the internet and other technology, including "cyberbullying". On 21 September the government published detailed guidance for schools; "Cyberbullying: Safe to Learn: embedding anti-bullying work in Schools" (DCSF - 00658-2007). The guidance can be accessed from www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/behaviour/tacklingbullying. The guidance advises schools to make reference to cyberbullying in their normal anti-bullying policies. Schools are also advised to develop a separate policy on cyberbullying together with an "Acceptable Use" policy. The Veale Wasbrough template "Use and Abuse of Technology" policy covers both of these issues.

Veale Wasbrough has recently provided a Briefing Paper on the legal implications of cyberbullying which can be accessed from the Publications section of the Boarding Schools Association website.

The intensity of the current concerns about children and the internet is reflected in the recent emergence of a number of reports and guidance. The most publicised has been Dr Tanya Byron's report "Safer Children in a Digital World" published in March which can be downloaded from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/byronreview/. The lengthy report makes a number of recommendations for schools which include:

"e-safety" best practice to be implemented by schools across the whole curriculum;
Better training in e-safety for teachers, both on entry to the profession and as part of continuing professional development;
Ofsted to inspect e-safety in schools.

The Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet has issued "Good Practice Guidance for the providers of social networking and other user interactive services 2008" which can be downloaded from the Home Office Police website. The guidance explores a number of issues including age verification and provides safety tips for parents and carers and also for children and young people with particular emphasis on guarding privacy.

More help is available on the Information Commissioner's website which is specifically aimed at helping young people to protect their personal information.

For further information contact Christine Betts on 0117 314 5279 or at cbetts@vwl.co.uk.

This publication is for guidance only. Reliance should not be placed upon it and nor should action be taken, without obtaining advice in respect of the specific circumstances applicable. We will be pleased to provide such advice or assistance.