Wokingham

Wokingham District Council’s decision-making executive are set to endorse a number of recommendations at their meeting next week (March 30) on CRB checks.

The recommendations to be endorsed will include checking all those staff, governors and volunteers who, through their role in Wokingham district schools, care for, supervise, or are in sole charge of children, who do not have a Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) check, should have one carried out.

Despite national guidance from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) stating there will continue to be no compulsory requirements to obtain a CRB check on existing staff appointed before March 2002, Wokingham District Council’s ten-strong executive are set to advise all schools to carry out retrospective checks. If agreed, the district council will fund half the cost to schools for carrying out these retrospective CRB checks, equating to approximately £60,000.

Concerns about the comprehensiveness of checks in Wokingham district’s schools were originally raised last year by the Wokingham Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. The requirements with regard to checking the suitability of people working with children have changed over the years. CRB checks were introduced nationally in March 2002. Prior to that, teachers were subject to checks against List 99.

From 1986, teachers and caretakers were also subject to checks against police records, although this was not mandatory. At this time, it was also apparent that support staff, were not usually subject to these checks.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has made it clear in successive guidance that CRB checks are strongly recommended as part of the appointment process for new staff working in schools, and Wokingham district council has always reinforced this recommendation to its schools. The Secretary of State only announced in January 2006 that these existing arrangements are now compulsory.

It is estimated that about 870 teachers and 975 support staff in Wokingham District Council’s schools were appointed before March 2002 and therefore may not been subject to CRB checks. Whilst they may have had checks carried out, this has not been consistently recorded. Audits do indicate that schools have been seeking and recording checks in line with the CRB code of practice for staff employed since March 2002.

The DfES does not require school governors to be checked, however all local authority appointed governors in the Wokingham district, since January 2005, have had checks carried out. However, there are over 800 governors in the Wokingham district who are unlikely to have a check in place. Where these governors, as part of their role care for, supervise, or are in sole charge of children the recommendation will be that a check is carried out.

Mark Molloy, corporate head of children’s services, said: “The district council has a responsibility for the care and welfare of all children in council maintained schools. Whilst it is not a national requirement for any of our schools to do retrospective checks, the district council, along with the Local Safeguarding Board, feels it is now time to address this.

“Whilst in many cases the checks may well have been done, there is no evidence to support this and we feel this is not adequate. It is now time for us to address this to ensure that all those who work with children are suitable and I very much hope the district council’s executive agree to endorse these recommendations.”

Wokingham District Council