Safeguarding, Governance and the Charity Commission

In May 2014, the Commission became aware, via national media coverage, of a police investigation - known as Operation Winthorpe - into historic sexual abuse allegations connected to the schools operated by the St Paul's School charity. The Commission opened a regulatory compliance case, but this rapidly escalated into a statutory inquiry following liaison with the police and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), as well as the identification of more recent allegations.

The focus of the Commission's inquiry was the conduct of the school's charity trustees in relation to the handling of safeguarding matters. The terms of reference considered:

• the charity’s handling of safeguarding matters, including the creation, development, substance and implementation of its safeguarding policy
• how the charity dealt with the risks to the charity and its beneficiaries arising from alleged abuse incidents, including the application of its safeguarding policy and procedures
• the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees and whether or not the trustees of the charity had complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law
• whether, and to what extent, there was/had been misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees

The Commission's report, which is only 12 pages long, should be read in full. There are a number of learning points for all of us:

• The Commission's unforgiving expectation of serious incident reports by independent schools.
• The importance of effective relationships between the charity and the local authority, so that all concerns are discussed immediately and if appropriate, informally with the LADO.
• The importance of definition between the roles and responsibilities of the charity's chair and nominated child protection governor.  A proper scheme of delegation and management and role descriptions is required, approved by the governing body.
• An annual review of safeguarding alone is not enough.  Formal terms of reference incorporating best practice and/or statutory guidance on how that review should be conducted is advisable. Independent corroboration, inspection of records and/or feedback from the LADO ensures the effectiveness of the annual review.
• Where there have been a number of allegations and/or complaints which raise potential safeguarding concerns or risks, given the higher risks involved, the Commission would expect the trustees to consider what additional steps are necessary beyond basic compliance with statutory regulation or guidance (such as Keeping Children Safe In Education) to satisfy themselves and the Commission that they are properly discharging their duty of care under charity law.
• An important tool to help trustees discharge their charity law duties is the systematic analysis and reporting of trends to the SMT and the governing body.

The Commission's conclusion was that identified weaknesses 'had the potential to inhibit the governors’ ability to fully discharge their legal duties as charity trustees or to adequately evidence the discharge of their duties'. Specific regulatory advice and recommendations were provided by the Commission to assist the governing body in discharging its legal duties.

Best Practice

There is no doubt that the specific recommendations raise the bar in terms of best practice for the governance of safeguarding matters in schools.  Whilst the Commission's regulatory focus is on the administration of a charity by the charity trustees and the steps taken to protect the charity and its beneficiaries, there is an obvious read through from the Commission's conclusions to the new regulatory standards on leadership and management of independent schools, which have a particular focus on the active promotion of pupil well-being. The Commission's recommendations are therefore likely to have an impact on inspection judgements for all schools, whether charitable or not.

We have developed a safeguarding best practice compliance pack for schools to address all the Commission's recommendations and provide reassurance to governing bodies and proprietors that they meet the emerging best practice on safeguarding leadership.

For more information, please contact Matthew Burgess in our Independent Schools team on 0117 314 5338 or Barney Northover on 0117 314 5395.