CHILD PROTECTION SAFEGUARDS MUST BE PROPERLY ENFORCED - MULHOLLAND
June 20, 2006 12:00 AM
Commenting on the report released by Ofsted today which found that many schools were not keeping records on their staff, including whether they had a criminal record, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Schools, Leeds MP Greg Mulholland said:
"A safeguard only makes children safe if it is properly enforced. It is extremely worrying that such huge discrepancies exist from school to school in the implementation of the current system of checks.
We cannot have failures in this system whether due to lack of resources or a failure to accept responsibility.
It is vital that this vetting programme is tightened and that measures are put in place to ensure that records are kept for anyone who works with children in our schools.
Ofsted found it was schools who manage their own hiring and firing who most often failed to act appropriately when vetting staff. This is a particular concern as Government plans for trust schools would allow more heads to opt out of local authority run employment practices. Ministers must take urgent action to make sure that all schools understand their responsibilities."
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