Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that independent schools are not found to be in breach of statutory regulations as a result of the introduction of retrospective prohibition checks on teaching staff.

From 5 January 2015, the independent school standards require that schools check both existing and new teaching staff to determine whether a prohibition order or interim prohibition made by the Secretary of State exists for any member of their teaching staff.

The checks are only retrospective in the sense that schools must confirm that existing staff, as well as new appointments, are not subject to a prohibition order. The prohibition order regime began in April 2012, and the standard does not distinguish between staff appointed before or after 5 January 2015, so existing staff should be checked too. We believe that this is entirely justified. The teacher standards which form the basis of the prohibition regime apply to independent schools, and it would be invidious if a school was able to continue employing a prohibited member of staff simply because he or she was appointed before 2015. When a school is inspected, it should be able to demonstrate that it has either completed these checks (which can be done through the National College’s Easy Access system) or is well on the way to completion. If a school cannot do so, regulatory action is likely to follow.