Schools 'opt out of inter-agency work'

The 15-strong inter-agency grouping, including the Local Government Association (LGA), Barnardo's, the NSPCC and the National Children's Bureau (NCB), is concerned that the Bill does not require schools to participate in the integration of services that could improve the lives of children and young people.

It argues that this loophole will give schools the chance to opt out of working co-operatively with other agencies, and says schools should have a duty to identify priorities and resources to ensure they provide for children facing additional challenges.

The warning follows an attempt by the group in May to table an amendment to the Bill stating that schools should have a legal duty to co-operate with other agencies. However, this was rejected, and the Bill is now awaiting its provisional second reading in the House of Commons next week, having completed its passage through the House of Lords.

In a joint statement the group said, 'The Bill neglects to require schools to change the way they work. The inter-agency group believes that although some will recognise the importance of working in a more co-operative way, the Government cannot rely entirely on the excellence and integrity of head teachers.

'It is vital that the Children Bill is amended so that schools - the agency where most children spend significant amounts of their time - have a statutory obligation to engage in this agenda and work in an integrated way around the needs of children.'

James Kempton, vice-chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said that schools should offer a 'gateway' to help identify issues with children. 'We hope to pick things up at a time when they can be fixed more easily,' he said. 'It's the schools' responsibility to pull in the outside services and work as part of the team. If schools choose how involved they get, we won't have a consistent service.'

He added that parents were often more receptive to schools than other agencies because they seemed 'less threatening'.

Vincent Muspratt, local government advisor to the NSPCC, said schools played a critical part in a child's learning and safety. 'Without that duty of protection they will not be responsible and accountable. That is what the very essence of the Bill is about,' he said.

NCB chief executive Paul Ennals said the Government was looking at placing a duty on most statutory bodies, so the same should apply to schools. 'So far, schools are not clearly included, and the services risk being just as diffuse and unco-ordinated as they are today,' he said.

But Chris Keates, the acting general secretary of teachers' union NASUWT, described the group's proposal as 'unnecessary' and 'counter-productive'.

He said that schools demonstrated daily their willingness and ability to work co-operatively with a range of organisations.

NASUWT would be contacting minister for children Margaret Hodge and education secretary Charles Clarke, he said, 'to seek assurances that the Government will not be swayed into imposing additional regulatory burdens on schools'.

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said schools already had a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and the DfES would be publishing statutory guidance on this later in September.

'We will also be producing and consulting on statutory guidance in the wake of the Children Bill to make it clear that schools should be involved in co-operation arrangements,' he said.