Frequently asked questions relating to CRB/Safeguarding in Schools:
Q1).Where do I get the information to compile the Schools Single Central Record?
The school are responsible for collecting and recording the information required in the Single Central Record. The school will have been sent this informationwhen the staff member was first appointed to the school. Guidance on the Single Central Record is contained in the school safeguarding reference file ‘Keeping Children Safe and Sound’ - A copy of this has been provided to all schools. The DCSF advise that it should be stated on the Single Central Record that the Local Authority has undertaken the CRB or List 99 check on behalf of the School.
If the school is unableto collect the information via school’s records or from staff themselves, they should contact Pay & Employment Direct at the Local Authority’s People & Performance Improvement (PPI) department.
The Ofsted guidance given to inspectors relating to the Single Central Record can be found in a document entitled ‘Briefing for section 5 inspectors on safeguarding children’. (Page 18, Source 1).
Q2). Do CRB checks need to be undertaken for members of staff currently without a CRB check, where:
- they were appointed to the school before March 2002? - No
- they were appointed to the school at any time since March 2002? - Yes
There is no obligation for either the school, or the Local Authority on behalf of the school, to undertake CRB checks for those staff appointed to the school before March 2002 who have not had a CRB check (Page 18, Source 1). This position is supported by a recommendation from Ofsted.
There is a requirement for appropriate staff appointed since March 2002 to have had a CRB check. Schools should contact the Local Authority to arrange CRB checks for staff where there is no evidence that either a List 99 check or CRB check has been completed, where the member of staff was appointed from March 2002 onwards. Checks would also be carried out for pre-March 2002 appointments if the school so requests a) in the interests of children’s safety and b) to represent a comprehensive record of criminal records vetting exceeding Ofsted requirements.
Q3). Have all Schools catering and cleaning staff had a CRB check?
All catering staff appointed since May 2008 are required to have had a CRB check. All metro clean appointed since January 2006 have had a CRB check. The CRB require that ALL schools staff, appointed since 12 May 2006, have a CRB check. (Page 18, Source 1).
Local Authority teams are therefore working to ensure that all Schools Catering staff employed between 12 May 2006 and May 2008 has a CRB check. To assess priorities the Local Authority are working with the Schools Improvement Service to identify schools requiring imminent support based on Ofsted inspection schedules.
Please note that the DCSF state that “there is no requirement for catering and cleaning staff employed on central LA contracts to be included on schools' single central record [and] it is acceptable for such confirmation to be as a covering letter from employers setting out their recruitment practice and stating that the staff they supply for the role have been appropriately vetted and checked”. Please therefore contact the manager of that service to ask for written confirmation that employees of that service sent to the school are appropriately CRB cleared.
Q4).Does the Council have a CRB re-check policy?
No. Ofsted and the DCSF have agreed that prior to introduction of the new ISA (Vetting & Barring Scheme) there is no obligation to routinely repeat CRB checks on people who are already agreed as being suitable/fit to work with children. Ofsted state ‘Inspectors should not downgrade an inspection judgement just because a provider has not routinely repeated CRB checks’(Page 9, Source 2).
As a result of the introduction of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) Vetting & Barring Scheme, ISA registration of all existing schools staff will begin, via a phased roll out, from April 2011. This exercise will be undertaken to ensure all employees are registered before the ISA deadline of 2015.
The Local Authority will therefore not be undertaking CRB re-checks for existing staff before April 2011 at the earliest, unless a school specifically requests it. Further advice and guidance on the ISA/Vetting & Barring Scheme will be issued to schools when received by the Local Authority.
Q5).Are CRB checks ‘portable’ within the Local Authority?
Yes – but only if in being appointed the member of staff is remaining with the same ‘employer’ and is not taking on a new post which ‘gives greater access to children or has more responsibility’(Page 9, Source 2).
The DCSF state that an existing CRB, which covers List 99 and POCA (now replaced by the ISA), can be portable within the same local authority, provided there has been no break in service of more than 3 months, the schools are both with the same ‘employer’, and there are no concerns about the individual’s suitability to work with vulnerable groups. An example of this would be a teacher with an existing CRB check who moves from one school to another, where in both cases DMBC are classed as the ‘employer’ - i.e. between two community schools.
The only circumstances where the Local Authority would undertake a repeat CRB check when a current member of staff moves jobs within the Local Authority would be where the appointment
a) ‘gives greater access to children or has more responsibility’ (Page 9, Source 2) or
b) is with a different employer – e.g. when moving from a community school to an Academy, Trust or Faith School etc. or vice versa.
Where an individual moves from one community school to another and neither a) nor b) applies, there would however, be a requirement for a CRB check if they had originally been appointed before March 2002 and had therefore never previously been CRB checked.
Therefore in summary: if a member of staff moves school at the same level of ‘access to children’ and/or level of ‘responsibility’, but is not changing ‘employer’ (i.e. from one community school to another within Doncaster LA), no new CRB check is required, providing that the employee had been CRB checked in the school they were leaving.
Q6).Are CRB checks ‘portable’ from other employers?
No. The CRB no longer supports portable CRB disclosures. CRB states ‘that any organisation which uses an existing CRB check rather than requesting a new one does so entirely at its own risk’(Page 4, Source 2).
Excepting the ‘same employer portability’ at Q5 above, the Council’s Schools/Recruitment team will arrange for all individuals newly appointed to a school to have a new CRB check regardless of whether they have an existing CRB check or not.
Q7).Do staff with multiple roles within a school require multiple CRB checks?
No. CRB state that: ‘it is at the discretion of the Head Teacher of the school to determine how many checks will be required’.
Due to some previous confusion and conflicting advice over this issue; the Local Authority has sought clarity from the CRB regarding staff in schools that have multiple roles. When asked if such staff require a CRB check for each post and when given the example ‘a cook in a school takes on the position of cleaner and a teaching assistant, do they need to have a CRB for each position or is the one for a cook sufficient?’, the CRB (via email) responded that it was “at the discretion of the Head Teacher”.
Therefore there is no obligation for a CRB check to be undertaken per post. One CRB check may be relied on for more than one post in the Single Central Record. The Local Authority will only undertake multiple CRB checks if expressly asked by the Head Teacher to do so.
Q8).Do schools have to pay for CRB checks?
Yes. Schools that buy-back the Traded Service package from People & Performance Improvement (PPI) will be recharged for the cost of the check itself (currently £36 per CRB check), but do not pay administration fees, as this is included in the Standard and Enhanced packages.
Schools who do not buy-back at least the Standard Package will be recharged an additional administration fee (currently £15 per CRB check) in addition to the cost of the CRB check itself (i.e. £36 + £15 = £51 per CRB check). Schools not buying-back either the Standard or Enhanced Package would also be required to have signed up to access the CRB service under the Council’s ‘umbrella’ service to external organisations.
See ‘People and Performance Improvement Traded Services to schools 2009-2010’ for further details.
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Source1: ‘Briefing for section 5 inspectors on safeguarding children’.
this page look under Supplementary Guidance and Resources in a Zip file which contains the document
Source 2: ‘Using existing Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks’: