Safer recruitment update for schools and academy trusts
DBS filtering rules and a tweak to the KCSiE guidance means that you now need to make some changes to your recruitment and selection policies and processes.
DBS filtering changes
New rules on DBS filtering came into effect on 28 November 2020 resulting in youth cautions, warnings and reprimands no longer being disclosed automatically on a Standard or Enhanced DBS certificate. You will need to tweak your recruitment and selection processes to reflect these changes.
Regardless of whether or not they were suspended, all other specified offences (as listed here) will always be disclosed in addition to all convictions resulting in a custodial sentence.
Our advice was (and remains) that you should not ask for criminal record disclosures in your application form. Instead, you should question candidates about previous criminal history during interview.
Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.
KCSiE
The latest addition of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) has removed the references to European Economic Area sanction checks. This is because the UK is no longer part of the EU and we are therefore no longer able to access this database As a result, the latest KCSiE guidance requires schools and academies to request a letter of professional standing from the professional regulating authority in the country in which the applicant has worked.
Whilst we do not anticipate that this will result in a big change of practice, the new process will be significantly slower than the previous EEA Sanction check, which should be considered when looking at recruitment timeframes.
To ensure that you remain compliant and avoid any unnecessary risk we are pleased to share with you the following complimentary resources:
If you would like further clarity on these changes or would like support with your recruitment processes or practises, please contact our team of dedicated HR Consultants.
Contact
Dai Durbridge
Partner
dai.durbridge@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)330 045 2105
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