Responding to figures published today (Friday) by online education magazine Schools Week showing that more than 1,000 school staff have been suspended as a result of new government guidance on child safeguarding, UNISON head of education Jon Richards said: ”These regulations are both costly and disproportionate given that so many staff members have been suspended yet none have been barred from working in schools.
“Removing school support staff from their workplace causes them untold reputational damage and is incredibly disruptive to pupils. Many staff have been left in limbo waiting for a decision from Ofsted, which must address all outstanding cases as a matter of urgency.
“UNISON is totally committed to keeping children safe but there needs to be a proper evaluation of whether this is an effective law. There are serious doubts as to whether these regulations add anything to existing good practice.”
The original guidance issued by the Department for Education last October was so vague that many schools misapplied it and have needlessly suspended staff for issues unrelated to the regulations, says UNISON.
Previous Ofsted figures showed that around 80 per cent of current cases relate to school support staff. UNISON, which represents more than 250,000 school support staff, has challenged the notion that staff should be judged as ‘guilty by association’.
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Notes to Editors:
UNISON is pleased that revised guidance published last week clarifies some of the regulations, including the definition of which staff are covered and a list of the offences included. However because the regulations apply to people living or working in the same household, many members of staff have been suspended for issues unrelated to child safety. Staff who have been in post for a long time and have demonstrated that they do not pose a risk have been suspended and left in limbo.