While the story seems to be grabbing increasing national
coverage, the Department for Education insist that nothing has changed to
regulations on Disqualification which have been in place for many years, it is
revised government guidance issued in October 2014 which has highlighted the
issue and has led to the current situation.
The Guardian
reported that hundreds of school staff have been suspended and that Ofsted is
struggling to deal with the number of applications for waivers, it’s possible
that a similar as yet unreported situation is developing for play and childcare
staff. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jan/20/schools-suspend-staff-child-protection-regulations
There are concerns about asking staff and management
committees (yes it applies to them too!) to disclose the disqualification
status of themselves, but more particularly, that of the people in their
households. Whilst this needs to be asked, the way it is asked, and how staff
feel they are valued and supported through this, can make the difference
between it feeling accusatory or a way of them further contributing to the
safeguarding of children in their care.
BAND issued guidance before Christmas which aims to clarify the situation as far as possible at present, signposts to further guidance from DfE and Ofsted and suggests how play/childcare employers can ensure compliance with the legislation. This can be viewed on our website: http://www.bandltd.org.uk/development_and_support.html