St Paul’s School: Charity Commission Publishes Report on Charity’s Handling of Safeguarding Matters

Following the arrest of a teacher on suspicion of possession of indecent images of young persons, the Charity Commission opened a regulatory inquiry last year into the charity responsible for the running of fee-paying St Paul’s School and its preparatory school, Colet Court. The inquiry was limited to investigating whether the trustees were complying with their charity law duties in relation to their handling of safeguarding matters. The case has now concluded and the Charity Commission’s report outlines several examples of good practice as well as some weaknesses in the charity’s systems for safeguarding policy. The Commission’s examples of practices at both ends of the spectrum help paint a clearer picture of what best practice safeguarding procedures might look like for charities bearing similarities to St Paul’s School. This may include:

• Periodically reviewing safeguarding policies and ensuring compliance with statutory regulations;
• Instructing professional advisors to review the implementation of policies at the time of any alleged offences;
• Commissioning an independent review of the charities safeguarding policies, practice and culture in light of any specific concerns;
• Safeguarding training for all staff;
• Additional safeguarding training for trustees/directors of the charity;
• Actively managing and responding to individual complaints;
• Systematic analysis and reporting of trends relating to complaints (depending on the size and type of the charity);
• Fostering a good relationship with the local authority;
• Ensuring that the delegation of responsibility in relation to safeguarding matters is either reflected in the safeguarding policy or formally defined in detail elsewhere;
• Undertaking an internal annual safeguarding review and producing a report of the findings for the trustees to consider;
• Producing a formal audit and reporting template;
• Notifying the Commission as soon as the charity becomes aware of a serious incident;
• Annual pupil survey to gain trend data from pupils as part of the audit of policy and practice;
• Developing user-friendly summaries of school policies to make them more accessible to parents and students; and
• Ensuring the minutes of meetings are transparent and the reasons/evidence for decisions made are fully recorded.

This Inquiry report serves as a timely reminder that all charities that work with children and other vulnerable persons should continually review and improve their safeguarding practices.

For additional information on safeguarding policies for your charity or to discuss your requirements with one of our charity solicitors, call us today on 01895 207809 or email charities@ibblaw.co.uk.