Agenda item

Joint report of the Town Clerk and the Director of HR (copy attached).

The Board considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Director of HR regarding changes to the national disclosure regime brought about by the Protection of Freedoms Act.

The Town Clerk highlighted that the recommendations had already been approved by both the Policy and Resources and the Community and Children’s Services Committee to date.

In response to questions, the Head of Corporate HR and Business Services reported that, at present, all Governors had undergone sufficient checks and so no further action need be taken in these cases. She added that, any newly appointed Governor would be assessed in terms of what level of contact they were likely to have with children and vulnerable adults and any checks carried out where necessary.

The Head of Corporate HR and Business Services reported that Governors would be issued with guidance and criteria on the new system in the near future. She added that individual Governors’ roles and levels of access would be reviewed on an annual basis alongside the School.

In response to a question, Governors were informed that the School would be responsible for conducting these annual reviews in conjunction with the City’s Corporate HR Unit who would issue relevant guidance and reminders.

In response to a further question, the Head of Corporate HR and Business Services stated that she believed that the new checks were a sort of ‘national certificate’ and were therefore portable both internally and between organisations.

Governors expressed some reservations about the new ‘self-assessment’ aspect of the checks and suggested that a more ‘fail-safe’ approach would be to automatically check all new Governors as they joined the Board or perhaps even all new Common Councilmen who joined the Court. The Head of Corporate HR and Business Services reported that the new checks had been introduced as it was felt that too many checks were previously being carried out on those who actually had little or no contact with children or vulnerable adults. It was felt that more effort should now be concentrated on those who required the checks most.

In response to a final question regarding the financial implications of the new system, the Head of Corporate HR and Business Services undertook to clarify if the £3,700 quoted would be the total cost of checks across the organisation and report back.

RESOLVED – That:

i)          the Board notes the fact that legislation now requires a CRB check to be carried out on any Member whose work with children or adults (through the work of the City Corporation) meet the relevant criteria. Automatic checks for all members of previously relevant Committees and Boards would, therefore, cease;

ii)         the Board agrees an annual review should be introduced to ensure relevant Members who are eligible for checks are identified. The Board, however, ask that their concerns regarding the self-assessment element of the checks be noted;

iii)        re-checking is introduced for Members requiring an initial check, but only at the point when the streamlined national process goes live. Updating checks will then be made every 4 years from the point at which a check was first required and disclosure checks repeated only where required.