Children: Body Searches

(asked on 20th April 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the suitability of the current guidance issued to (a) schools, and (b) local safeguarding partnerships regarding police searches of children following the case of Child Q.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 25th April 2022

The department is clear that any use of strip search must be carried out in accordance with the law and with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual being searched, particularly if the individual being searched is a child.

The department is currently reviewing the ‘Searching, screening and confiscation’ guidance. As part of this review, officials are engaging with teaching unions, the third sector and other government departments, including the Home Office, to gather views on changes for consideration. This includes the roles of parents, the police and teachers in these challenging situations. We will aim to publish revised guidance in the summer alongside the recently consulted on ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance, and the ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance. This will ensure that all schools are clear on their duties relating to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of all pupils. This coordinated approach will enable us to take a comprehensive view of what improvements can be made across our school safeguarding advice and guidance.

Regarding local safeguarding partnerships, the department does not issue specific guidance to safeguarding partners on how they should operate. Police, health, and local authorities have an equal and shared statutory duty to safeguard and protect the welfare of children in their local, and to publish arrangements setting out how this will be done. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code C, sets out the circumstances under which strip searches can be used.

Neither the Department for Education or the Home Office holds figures on the number of pupils searched by police officers in primary schools or secondary schools in each year since 2017, or how many of these were conducted without a responsible adult present.

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