Inspection: part 8 – Ofsted and allegations

Whenever an allegation is made against a member of staff, as well as informing the local authority, it is an offence if you fail to notify Ofsted within 14 days. This type of notification should be made initially via the notification portal on Ofsted’s website, with a note to explain that an allegation has been made and a description of how you are dealing with it, including how you are safeguarding everyone.

It will also want to be told that you will be keeping it informed of any updates. At the end of the process, you can complete the full notification including any documents you want to send. If this is not done quickly and you wait to tell Ofsted the final outcome, you will probably miss the 14-day deadline (see the previous article in this series on notifications).

OFSTED’S ROLE

Ofsted’s role in this whole process is to continue to consider the provider’s suitability. Ofsted does not attend any strategy meetings if called by the local authority designated officer (LADO) as this is outside its scope unless they are about the provider itself or a childminder.

Providers who manage this process well will be able to do so without intervention by Ofsted. As a registered provider, you are entrusted to follow your Local Safeguarding Children Board guidance and carry out the safeguarding functions of an owner. However, if you fail to inform Ofsted and a notification is made to it by the LADO, or if you ruin evidence by investigating prematurely, Ofsted will become involved to consider the impact of your actions and whether you are able to sufficiently carry out your role.

I have recently been told of three cases where a LADO wrongly told the manager that on this occasion they did not need to notify Ofsted. It is not the LADO who makes this decision and this goes against the regulations. The regulation is clear – all allegations against staff or persons who live or work on the premises must be notified to Ofsted.

STAFF KNOWLEDGE

This series aims to provide staff with the knowledge they need about the correct process to follow once an allegation is made. But there are some important aspects of the process that providers need to be aware of:

Police dropping charges does not mean that a member of staff is innocent (see case study). Make sure that you suspend a member of staff until your own investigation is completed.

The LADO is your social services contact and they decide if they need to share the information with a view to undertaking a strategy meeting. If this happens, the chair of the meeting decides whether to involve the police.

Not investigating as a setting is not an option, but just make sure this is done at the appropriate time, i.e. after either the LADO or the police have said you can do so, so evidence is preserved (see part 6 in this series).

Not only should the team have your policy on allegations against members of staff, but you should also encourage them to think through how they would feel if this ever happened, why they may need to be suspended, and why this may have to be done without a full explanation.

All staff need to understand how important confidentiality is during this type of allegation and why (see part 6).

Providers should be aware that managers in this situation may need emotional and practical support. You may wish to put a policy in place to facilitate this.

CASE STUDY

A member of nursery staff had an allegation of rape of three children made against them. The police investigated and did not have enough evidence so they stepped out of the process. Unfortunately the provider thought that no charge meant the member of staff was innocent and lifted its suspension.

Social services were furious that no internal investigation had been done and felt strongly that abuse had occurred as the three children involved had given similar details about the case. The provider was confused and felt it did not have the evidence to dismiss the member of staff or make a DBS referral.

Although the member of staff was eventually suspended, I did feel for the provider as the manager was clearly out of her depth. She kept asking social services to put concerns in writing so she could dismiss the person. Social services would not do this as they don’t investigate childcare workers (just children and families). Yet had the provider had knowledge and the ability to investigate for itself, it could have dismissed the member of staff using HR procedures.

The provider ended up paying a year’s salary to the alleged perpetrator of rape. This case showed me how unprepared some owners are for these events.