§ Mr. DunnTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further steps he has taken to secure the safety and welfare of pupils in independent boarding schools.
§ Mr. FallonI refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Sir M. McNair-Wilson) on 22 January,Official Report, columns 121–23 and 18 February, Official Report, column 24. Following consultations with interested bodies, regulations were laid on 24 April, coming into operation today, which require proprietors of independent schools to report where any member of staff is dismissed for misconduct, or would have been dismissed or considered for dismissal had he not resigned. Proprietors will also be required to provide particulars of all staff, not just teaching staff, on application for registration and annually.
My Department is writing to the proprietors and heads of all independent schools bringing these requirements to their attention. Conscientious reporting by schools will enable us usefully to extend the coverage of our list of people barred from employment in maintained schools —DES List 99—which is itself an essential resource for those responsible for the employment of staff in the independent sector.
At the same time, we shall provide each school with a copy of the guidance and regulations on the implementation of section 63 of the Children Act 1989. Section 87 places new duties on proprietors of independent boarding schools, and on local authority social services departments, to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils. The guidance, which is published jointly by the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Science and the Welsh Office, has also been sent to social service departments and local education authorities and will, I believe, provide a sounder basis for securing all aspects of the welfare of pupils in boarding schools, including strengthening the arrangements for protecting them from sexual and physical abuse.