SAFER RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES TO IDENTIFY AND DETER UNSUITABLE CANDIDATES

Following revelations in the media by celebrities such as Nicky Campbell which have exacerbated public concerns about child abuse within the independent sector, David Smellie recommends that schools review and strengthen their staff recruitment procedures.

In carrying out the required statutory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) checks, whilst important, schools undertaking staff recruitment secure only limited comfort through such measures, namely that the candidate they are recruiting has not previously offended (or been suspected of offending) against children and has not been barred from teaching. If I reflect on all of the cases I have dealt with in schools in my career, only one involved someone who had previously offended against a child (and where, because the offence was historic and took place in another jurisdiction, was not picked up in a DBS check). The remainder were all cases of adults who had been fully checked and had unblemished records, but who in the circumstances in which they found themselves during their employment proceeded to abuse a child.

Situational offender

Schools do therefore need to understand the different types of adult who are capable of offending against children.

Whilst offenders like Jimmy Saville do exist, who have a predisposition to abuse children and seek out roles which provide them with access to children, they are thankfully very rare. Much more common, in the view of Marcus Erooga – one of the leading researchers and authors in the field – is the ‘situational offender’ whom he defines as someone with no conscious or subconscious sexual attraction to children, but who reacts to their environment and goes on to offend against a child. As Erooga puts it, “the motivation for the crime is supplied by the situation and the offence may represent an aberration in an otherwise law-abiding life.” Erooga illustrates this by a quote from an offender with a wholly unblemished record, but who said, “To me, I think the main factor in my offending was the sense of isolation I had in the school – partly because of how the department was and how people didn’t seem to interact and also physically it was on one corner of the site. I didn’t know who to speak to about any issues that arose. I didn’t feel I could talk to my HoD.”

So, the objective of any school’s safer recruitment process should not just be to weed out those with a predisposition to abuse children, but also those who could potentially become situational offenders (or indeed opportunist offenders who commit offences that are typically impulsive, unplanned and driven by opportunity as a means of seeking gratification). The six-milliondollar question is what are the practical steps that schools can take to try to achieve this?

Advertisements, job/person specifications, application forms

There is a raft of information with which potential candidates are provided before they actually submit any application, and schools should take the opportunity of making these documents as much a deterrent as possible to the candidate who might be seeking out a role for the wrong reasons. It is also the case that creating from the outset the highest standards and highest expectations in terms of professionalism and safeguarding is the best way of setting the right tone for any prospective new recruit.

consider carrying out an online search

So, in practice:

• advertisements should emphasise the importance placed on safeguarding

• application forms should make clear that incomplete forms or the use of CVs will not be accepted

• application forms should ensure that candidates have to disclose their academic and full employment history without gaps

• job descr iptions and person specifications should set out clearly the safeguarding responsibilities of the role, and the skills and experiences which candidates will be expected to have

• application forms should include a declaration from the applicant regarding convictions and working with children (making it clear that the role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offices Act 1974), and assert that the making of false statements (or omission of relevant information) may result not only in rejection (or summary dismissal if selected) but in referral to the Police and/or DBS

• the per son specification should detail the experience, expertise and skills required to do the job, including suitability to work with children in a school environment

• the role descr iption should make it clear that safeguarding responsibility is an intrinsic part and requirement of the role.

The interview

The interview is the one unscripted opportunity to probe the candidate’s employment history, experience, motivation and suitability to work with children, and that opportunity must not be wasted.

So, in practice:

• anomalies or gaps in employment history must be probed

• any disciplinary history or past allegations, cautions or convictions should be explored and discussed

• the candidate’s motivation to work with children should be explored together with their ability to form appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children, their emotional resilience in working with challenging behaviours and their attitudes towards use of authority and maintaining discipline.

These are the four areas recommended by the Warner Report, which reviewed the selection of staff in children’s homes:

• probe the candidate’s awareness of safeguarding best practice and their judgement in handling safeguarding concerns

• use open questions designed to br ing out real-life experiences which the candidate has had, rather than closed or theoretical questions which are easier to produce textbook responses to • ask the candidate if there is anything they wish to disclose which they have not already disclosed and remind them that any job offer will involve a DBS check

• check the documentar y evidence which the candidate brings to evidence their identity, educational and professional qualifications and right to work in the role.

Medical fitness

Whilst complying with their Equality Act obligations (not to discriminate against disabled applicants) schools are under a statutory duty to verify the medical fitness of candidates after an offer of employment has been made but before the appointment is confirmed. Many schools use health questionnaires which can be reviewed by the school doctor.

References

Schools should seek at least two references in respect of candidates and Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) advises that references should be obtained preinterview where possible.

Education is perhaps the only remaining sector where meaningful and detailed references are still provided, and reference requests should ask whether the previous employer is satisfied with the candidate’s suitability to work with children, and to provide details of any substantiated concerns/allegations that meet the harm threshold.

DBS and Prohibition Orders

The requirements for these checks are all set out in KCSIE and do not bear repeating here other than to emphasise that the only thing that clear checks show is that the candidate has not previously been caught offending against a child. That means that those who have previously offended and not been caught, or those who have not offended yet but will go on to offend, are those which a thorough recruitment process should seek to identify or dissuade from applying in the first instance.

Social media screening

Increasingly, employers are incorporating social media checks into their recruitment processes and KCSIE 2022 states that schools should consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates.

It is very easy to be overcautious in counselling schools in this area. My advice to schools using social media screening as part of its recruitment process would be:

• ensure the pr ivacy notice supplied to job applicants makes clear that such services are used, and explains the purpose and legal basis for such processing

• r ather than a fishing expedition, searches should be limited to the legitimate purposes which the school has (eg matching employment and educational history to the candidate’s application, or searching in respect of specific areas which would impact on the candidate’s suitability to work with children)

• if concer ns arise from the search, the candidate should have the opportunity to respond to any information sourced online

• care should be taken to ensure the accuracy of the information and that it is up to date

• use specially trained staff to carry out any searches, or schools could use external businesses which specialise in this area (e.g. safeguardingsocials.co.uk).

Overseas checks

In an increasingly global recruitment market for teachers, schools will frequently be considering candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK. Whilst schools are still required to obtain the usual DBS and other checks needed for UK-based candidates, they should consider carefully the appropriate checks on candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK for more than three months at any one time. A school’s ability to carry out these checks will vary significantly depending on the country concerned – but essentially, they should be looking for criminal records checks (or certificates of good standing) from the country concerned as well as (in the case of teachers) professional regulatory checks from the professional body responsible for teachers.

Full employment lifecycle

It is essential to remember that the recruitment process is but one part, albeit a very important part, of an employee’s career at a school. It presents an opportunity to deter candidates who might, knowingly or unknowingly, pose a risk to children down the line. But safer recruitment will not eliminate potential offenders, and with that in mind, schools need to think of the full lifecycle of their staff and work at each stage to take appropriate measures to mitigate risk.

A school that focuses on each of these stages in the employment lifecycle and looks to provide its staff with appropriate support and guidance is likely to be a safer environment for children. Ensuring the pastoral wellbeing of staff is also a significant safeguard for the children in their care. ●

DAVID SMELLIE is a Partner with Farrer & Co who has been advising the independent school sector for many years.