Police failure to meet targets on background checks may lead to unvetted teachers being appointed

March 7, 2016 - PRLog -- The teacher shortage may be persuading schools in London to risk appointing
applicants without waiting for background checks to be completed. That’s the
warning after official statistics showed a failure by the Metropolitan Police to
meet its target performance service standards with the Disclosure and Barring
Service, which conducts criminal record checks for schools.

Statistics published by the Disclosure & Barring Service last week
(https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-performance) show that during
2015, on average the Metropolitan Police completed only 30% of checks within 14
days (the target is 85%), only 33% within 18 days (the target is 90%) and only
35.5% within 25 days (the target is 95%). The DBS is required to ask the police
if they have any relevant locally held information about applicants, which they
reasonably believe to be relevant, and which should therefore be disclosed as
part of the DBS check.

“The demand for teachers, particularly in London, is such that schools are
understandably anxious to fill vacancies quickly and provide proper classroom
cover as soon as they are able,” explains Darryl Mydat, Managing Director of
specialist teacher recruitment agency TLTP Education (The London Teaching Pool).

“However, we are talking about children here and to do so without completing
solid background checks on candidates is to take an unacceptable risk with who
we may be placing in our classrooms. We worry that if it is taking so long for
the Metropolitan Police to process these checks, particularly as other police
forces appear to be hitting their targets or be much closer to doing so, then
schools in London may not wait in order to make an appointment.’

These new statistics follow a Freedom of Information request submitted by TLTP
Education at the end of last year which revealed that nearly three thousand
teachers in London with, between them, more than 8000 criminal convictions,
including soliciting as a prostitute, gross indecency and sexual assault, had
applied for teaching jobs since the start of 2014.The figures released by TLTP
following a Freedom of Information request to, reported that 2,892 applications
had been made covering 8,004 separate criminal convictions. These may have
included people applying for head teacher and deputy head teacher positions as
well as those applying to teaching and teaching assistant jobs.

Mydat adds that this is an area where specialist recruiters, especially those
that hold REC audited status, can add value, by providing a level of background
checks on candidates that schools may either not have the time or the knowledge
to do for themselves.

“With demand for teachers outstripping supply we understand it may be tempting
to take a candidate who, on paper, looks impressive but without the robust
recruitment, selection and vetting processes that a bona fide recruitment agency
would deploy before allowing them to start working in a school.”

As a holder of the REC Audited Award, the gold standard in safeguarding, TLTP
employs consultants, each committed to delivering an unrivalled first-class
service to schools and teaching candidates. Thorough attention to detail
underlines the company’s belief that placing the very best teachers into schools
is paramount to enhancing opportunities and prospects for future generations.

Ends.