Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: require all residential special schools to be inspected against the quality standards used to regulate children's homes in England and care homes in Wales; reintroduce a duty on boarding schools and residential special schools to inform the relevant inspectorate of allegations of child sexual abuse and other serious incidents, with professional or regulatory consequences for breach of this duty; if the recommendation above is implemented, residential special schools will automatically be subject to this duty; and introduce a system of licensing and registration of educational guardians for international students which requires Disclosure and Barring Service and barred list checks to be undertaken.

The Inquiry called for strengthened residential school inspections, mandatory abuse reporting, and educational guardian licensing. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a June 2022 response on a page archived in July 2022, reported that the UK government planned to strengthen National Minimum Standards (NMS) rather than adopt children's homes quality standards, while considering reporting rules alongside wider mandatory reporting policies and reviewing guardian licensing options (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). According to the Inquiry's summary, the Welsh Government also stated in June 2022 that it intended to use regulation-making powers to regulate care and support in residential special schools potentially by December 2023, incorporating notification duties and progressing guardian measures alongside boarding school standards (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: introduce a set of national standards for local authority designated officers in England and Wales to promote consistency; and clarify in statutory guidance that the local authority designated officer can be contacted for informal advice as well as when a concern or allegation needs to be referred.

The recommendation asks for national standards and clearer statutory guidance for local authority designated officers. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a UK Government response of June 2022 on a web page archived in July 2022, reported that the government was considering reviewing the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, including revised content on the role of designated officers and a potential public consultation (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). In that July 2022 summary, it also noted the Welsh Government stating in June 2022 that designated officers already adhere to professional standards as qualified social workers, alongside ongoing work by Social Care Wales on national minimum standards for safeguarding training (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: amend the Independent School Standards to include the requirements that there is an effective system of governance, based on three principles of openness to external scrutiny, transparency and honesty within the governance arrangements, and the ability of governors to have difficult conversations both internally and with those providing external scrutiny; amend the Independent School Standards to stipulate that the proprietor cannot be the designated safeguarding lead; and amend the current system of registration of independent schools to apply the same standards to registrants as those applying to open a free school or early years provision.

The Inquiry recommended strengthening independent school governance, safeguarding roles, and school registration standards. In a summary of a June 2022 response archived in July 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that the UK government agreed in principle to revise governance standards and bar proprietors from acting as designated safeguarding leads (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). The Inquiry noted the government intended to consult on revised standards in 2023, update safeguarding guidance, and explore aligning independent school registration with free school standards (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It also recorded that the Welsh Government agreed to amend its regulations and registration processes across all points of the recommendation (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: set nationally accredited standards and levels of safeguarding training in schools; make the highest level of safeguarding training mandatory for headteachers, designated safeguarding leads in England or designated safeguarding persons in Wales, designated safeguarding governors, or the proprietor or head of the proprietorial body; and undertake an urgent review in order to improve the provision and effectiveness of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) for children with special educational needs and disabilities, both for children who are in mainstream settings and for those in special schools.

The Inquiry asked the Department for Education to establish accredited school safeguarding training standards. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in a summary of June 2022 published in July 2022, recorded that the UK Government pledged to consider setting accredited standards and had strengthened guidance for headteachers and designated safeguarding leads (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). The summary noted that the government also planned an evaluation of relationships and sex education, including in special schools, though training for school governors or proprietors was not mentioned (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It also reported that the Welsh Government was developing training standards through Social Care Wales for independent schools and considering reviewing its Relationships and Sexuality Education Code for children with additional learning needs (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: require schools to inform the relevant inspectorate when they have referred a member of staff to the Disclosure and Barring Service, the Teaching Regulation Agency or the Education Workforce Council; and include in the national standards for local authority designated officers a requirement that local authority designated officers should share information on referrals from schools with the relevant inspectorate (see recommendation 2)

The Inquiry recommended requiring schools to notify inspectorates when referring staff to regulatory bodies. In July 2022, summarising responses of June 2022, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that the UK Government was cautious about establishing a reporting mechanism limited to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), though it would consider requiring local authority designated officers to share referral information within updated safeguarding guidance (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). The inquiry also noted that the Welsh Government accepted the recommendation in principle in June 2022, but stated it lacked powers to require notifications and would work to establish the necessary vehicle to implement them (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Department for Education should amend the Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 to bring all teaching assistants, learning support staff and cover supervisors within the misconduct jurisdiction of the Teaching Regulation Agency. The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should amend Keeping Children Safe in Education and Keeping Learners Safe to: provide more detailed guidance as to the quality, nature and degree of supervision required for supervised volunteers working with children in schools; and make clear that Disclosure and Barring Service checks are free of charge for supervised volunteers, and should be obtained wherever practicable. The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should amend the regulations to provide that inclusion on the children's barred list automatically disqualifies the individual from being a governor or proprietor of any school. The Home Office should amend the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 so that proprietors and members of the proprietorial body and governors should be checked against the children's barred list.

The Inquiry asked the Department for Education to extend misconduct jurisdiction and strengthen school safeguarding rules. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a UK Government response of June 2022 on a web page archived in July 2022, reported that anyone undertaking teaching work can already be referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) regardless of role (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It recorded that the government incorporated free Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) volunteer checks into guidance, agreed in principle to consider supervision guidance, and would consider barring checks for governors alongside the Home Office (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It also noted that the Welsh Government accepted the recommendation in principle in June 2022 and would review guidance and regulations regarding governors (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).

The Welsh Government should: update the Independent School Standards as a matter of urgency; update the national minimum standards for boarding schools as a matter of urgency; legislate so that all residential special schools are judged against the quality standards in place for care homes in Wales; ensure that all teachers and learning support staff in independent schools in Wales are required to register with the Education Workforce Council; and consider extending the duty to report a child at risk of harm in section 130 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to independent school staff.

The Inquiry asked the Welsh Government to update independent school standards, registration, and reporting duties. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a June 2022 response from the Welsh Government in an update of July 2022, reported that work was ongoing to draft legislation amending independent school regulations and requiring staff to register with the Education Workforce Council (EWC) (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It also noted that the government had begun work to extend the duty to report to independent schools and intended to regulate care in residential special schools, with an implementation date to be agreed, while updating boarding school standards was not mentioned (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).