Working in a school without CRB clearance

[naja46]

Can anyone tell me if it is actually illegal for an employer to allow an employee to work unsupervised when they are in contact with children i.e. in a school for instance ? I've looked on the Internet & of course there are hundreds of articles on the subject .

I know there are 2 types of ' disclosure ' & I have found information regarding the employers responsibilty to ensure employees are police checked but I cannot find anything about what happens if the employer does NOT do this & knowingly allows employees to work unsupervised in the presence of children .
Can such employees be investigated & if they are found to be doing this , are they actually breaking the law & can be prosecuted ?
Any information about this would be welcomed , thankyou .

[naja46]

In my last paragraph I meant to say can employers be investigated , not employees !

[doglady]

It depends on what they are doing in the school I think. If they only come in occasionally and don't have direct contact with children I don't think they need to be checked, for example, builders working in a school.

But I don't know if it is illegal to have people working directly with children who aren't CRB checked.

I have one done for my daytime job but I also do children's entertainment at the weekend with my hubby. He hasn't been checked (Obviously I know there is nothing to worry about and we're never on our own with the children anyway) but to be honest we've never been asked by schools or anyone else.

[naja46]

Thanks for your reply . I was really thinking of people who work in a school every day , like teachers & support staff , including caretakers , cleaners , catering staff etc .
I think you are right about people who are only in schools on a one off basis though .

I suspect that if it is a requirement of the CRB that someone should be police checked then in theory , the employer is responsible & if they knowingly allow non checked staff to work unsupervised near children , they are breaking the law . It's just that I cant see anything on the Internet to tell me exactly what would happen to the employer in these circumstances , should they get found out ( which presumeably could happen if somebody reported them to the CRB or police ) .
Thanks again anyway !

[crisgal]

give ofsted a ring if you're concerned.
I'm sure you need a CRB for regular work with children - even if voluntary.

[Buenchico]

There's no legislation which states that schools must have their staff CRB checked.

However, nobody can run a school without the approval of the Department for Children, Schools and Families. That effectively makes the DfCSF 'God' as far as schools are concerned, simply because the Department can remove approval from any school which does not comply with the Department's requirements. (i.e. it could close the school down). It's the DfCSF which places a requirement upon schools to carry out CRB checks on their staff.

In practice, where local authority schools are concerned, it's the LEA which enforces the rules. The school's governors (usually acting through the head teacher) are responsible for appointing new staff, but the LEA won't take an employee onto their payroll until they're satisfied that the relevant checks are carried out. The LEA also imposes a contractual duty upon its head teachers (and other staff) not to permit any unchecked individuals (such as volunteer sports coaches) to work with children.

Chris

[Info Bank]

I am aware of a Large Bus company who lost the Contract for provision of there service.This was due to random checks finding 2 of there drivers had no Checks whatsoever.

[naja46]

Thank you very much to all of you who have replied to my question .