Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Assistant City Solicitor introduced a report on the City of London’s obligations in relation to disclosure and barring requirements for chairmen and governors on the Board of Governors of the City’s independent schools. He noted that there was little flexibility in the application of the DBS requirements and that both chairmen and governors were required to register with the disclosure and barring service (DBS). Moreover, it was the responsibility of the chairman of each school to ensure that each governor was registered with the DBS. He concluded by noting that DBS requirements were the same for both academy and free school governors as they were for the independent schools. He concluded by noting the requirements were more relaxed in the maintained sector, where under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 only governors engaged in regulated activity were obliged to register with the DBS.

During discussion of the report the following points were made.

·         The Assistant Town Clerk noted that members using the DBS would be registered with the DBS Update Service, allowing them to use their DBS clearance on more than one Board of Governors.

·         The Education Strategy Advisor noted that in the maintained sector, where only governors engaged in regulated activity with children were required to register with the DBS, there was nevertheless some ambiguity over what ‘regulated activity’ was and therefore DBS checks for all governors was considered best practice.

·         The Assistant Town Clerk noted that the City Corporation currently appointed over 70 governors to Boards of the City’s independent schools, City Academies, other schools such as Prior Weston Primary School, but only 2 governors to the Sir John Cass Primary School, a maintained school. Given the vast majority of City Governors were required to register with the DBS, there was an option to make it City Corporation policy to require all City Corporation appointed governors obliged to register with the DBS.

·         The Policy Chairman noted that where the City appointed governors to another Board of Governors such as Prior Weston Primary School, the City Corporation should pay the associated administrative costs of the DBS check.

·         The Policy Chairman further noted that any City Corporation DBS policy should not lead to an overemphasis on process – instead the DBS check should be accompanied by a wider consideration on whether the individual was the right candidate for the governor vacancy. The Director of Community and Children’s Services agreed that the DBS check was not an end in itself and that it would be accompanied by a wider assessment.

·         The Assistant Town Clerk noted that the City Corporation’s Human Resources Department would support members engaged in registering with the DBS.

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be received.

·         Registering with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) be recommended as a requirement of all City Corporation-appointed governors, including those appointed to Board of Governors in the maintained sector.