Staffing and Safe Recruitment

Careful recruitment and regular monitoring of staff, agency workers and volunteers is used to prevent unsuitable staff from being recruited and having the opportunity to harm children or to place them at risk. The relevant authorities and professional bodies will be informed of any concerns about inappropriate adults.

Schedule 2 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 requires the following checks for people who wish to manage or work in a Children’s Home:

• Proof of identity including a recent photograph;
• An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (depending on the nature of the role);
• Two written references, including a reference from the person’s most recent employer, if any;
• If a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, verification so far as reasonably practicable of the reason why the employment or position ended;
• Documentary evidence of any qualifications which the person considers relevant for the position; and
• A full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment, in writing.

Note that statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education provides that schools and colleges should only accept copies of a curriculum vitae alongside an application form. A curriculum vitae on its own will not provide adequate information.

The guidance also states:

'In addition, as part of the shortlisting process schools and colleges should consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates. This may help identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and are publicly available online, which the school or college might want to explore with the applicant at interview'.

Whilst this guidance applies to schools and colleges, it may be regarded as good practice in safe recruitment. HR/legal advice should be sought as appropriate in relation to use of online searches as part of recruitment processes.

Guidance: Children’s Homes – Recruiting Staff (Ofsted) provides further information in relation to the regulatory requirement to obtain 2 written references, including one from the applicant’s last employer. The Guidance provides that you do not have to contact the person who wrote the reference to check that they did so, although this is good practice. You should always check out a reference if you have any doubt about its quality or reliability.

You may not be able to obtain a reference from a previous employer, for example because they are no longer operating, or have died. If this happens, you should ask for another reference from another previous employer.

You must try, as far as possible, to find out why a prospective staff member’s previous employment ended, if their previous jobs involved working with children or vulnerable adults. You should try to obtain this information from their most recent employer, and other employers where relevant. For example, this could be a conversation with the previous employer, and you record the detail of this on the staff member’s file. You do not have to contact all of their previous employers unless you have a particular cause for concern. If you do have a concern, then Ofsted expect you to obtain as much information as you can to make sure that the person is suitable.

See also DBS Digital Identity Verification Guidance.

The appropriate level DBS checks must be carried out before a person is appointed to engage in Regulated Activity within the Home. To determine which level of DBS check a role is eligible for, refer to the DBS Eligibility Guidance (GOV.UK).

The information contained in an up-to-date DBS certificate must be reviewed to decide whether this reveals any concerns about the person’s suitability to work with children. If there are concerns, the information must be used to conclude whether or not to appoint the person. Providers and managers must keep up-to-date with what constitutes Regulated Activity and fully investigate any information that indicates that a person may be barred from working with children or vulnerable adults.

Anyone who is barred from work with children is committing an offence if they apply for, offer to do, accept or do any work constituting Regulated Activity. It is also an offence for an employer knowingly to offer work in a regulated position, or to procure work in a regulated position for an individual who is disqualified from working with children or fail to remove such an individual from such work.

Once appointed, a person must continue to meet the remit-specific regulatory requirements after the initial recruitment process.

In relation to the Disclosure and Barring Service checks, the following must be recorded:

• The date the DBS check was carried out;
• The DBS certificate number;
• The name of the person who checked the original certificate;
• Whether there was any information or concerns arising from the check that required further attention before you decided to appoint the individual;
• The name of the person who carried out the update check, if the individual is registered with the DBS update service;
• If concerns were identified once a person was appointed, steps you have taken to review a person’s suitability to continue to work with children;
• What actions you take if a person changes their role after they have been appointed;
• The actions you have taken in order to protect children from contact with unsuitable persons; this may include referral to the DBS or other relevant authorities.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks should be:

• Treated as confidential;
• Kept secure;
• Destroyed as soon as no longer required.

Information on checks for candidates who have spent time abroad or have come from abroad can be found at: GOV.UK, Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Applicants who have worked or been resident overseas for longer than 3 months within the previous 5 years, including UK citizens who have worked or lived overseas, require the Statement of Good Conduct (sometimes referred to Certificate of Good Conduct) to be provided. This must be received prior to the applicant starting in the home unless other evidence is provided to confirm applicant’s activity whilst abroad such as reference for employment.

Applicants can present a previously held Statement of Good Conduct; this should be carefully considered and checked alongside all other information presented by the applicant; including employment history and time since the Statement of Good Conduct was gained.

Please note: A DBS check has no official expiry date. Any information included will be accurate at the time the check was carried out. It’s up to the employer to decide when a new check is needed. The frequency at which DBS checks will be repeated should be detailed in the Safer Recruitment Policy.

Adverse DBS check

The organisation will treat applicants who have a criminal record fairly and will not discriminate because of a conviction or other information revealed. Possession of a criminal record will not automatically prevent applicants from working within the organisation, however the conviction must be spent. As part of the recruitment process any information revealed regarding a criminal record will only be considered in light of its relevance to the post for which the candidate is applying.

The Manager will be responsible for discussing any adverse DBS checks with the applicant to determine the following:

• The nature of the offence;
• The situation surrounding the offence and whether there have been any further offences;
• The age of the person when the offence was committed;
• The time between the last offence and interview date;
• A judgement on the applicant’s honesty and integrity when discussing the offences;
• Lessons learnt;
• Effect on victims and victim empathy etc.

If a manager is employing a staff member with an adverse DBS check, they will be required to complete a DBS conviction review form.

This form will need to be referred to the HR Business Partner, Regional Operations Manager and a Director of Homes2Inspire Ltd to ensure all agree in proceeding with an offer of employment. This will also include any contractual obligations with the relevant Local Authorities regarding employing anyone with an adverse DBS.

When employing individuals with an adverse DBS certificate, an individual risk assessment should be produced. This must cover the individual’s conviction, the risks it may pose and how these risks would be mitigated. For example, an individual with driving offences may be required to complete an additional driving course before being cleared to drive the company vehicle. A standard risk assessment template will be produced for all managers to use, this will be used alongside the DBS conviction review form, this will be reviewed monthly during the probationary period. A risk assessment may remain in place for a longer period and in certain circumstances the initial probationary period may be extended to a period of 9 months duration.

The Manager will also be required to complete a monthly DBS status check on the adverse DBS check as part of the risk assessment.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), operate an optional Update Service which is designed to reduce the number of DBS checks requested.

Instead of a new check being necessary whenever an individual applies for a new role working with children, individuals can opt to subscribe to the online Update Service. This will allow them to keep their DBS certificate up to date, so that they can take it with them from role to role, within the children’s workforce.

Employers do not need to register, but can carry out free, instant, online status checks of a registered individual's status. A new DBS check will only be necessary if the status check indicates a change in the individual's status (because new information has been added). See GOV.UK for more information.

For the latest guidance on DBS referrals, see the GOV.UK website.

If you use the DBS update service to check the status of an individual’s DBS certificate, you should be able to demonstrate how you manage and record details of any check you carry out.

Homes2inspire Ltd expect all staff to be on the update service. Checks of the DBS are done at least every 3 months and recorded on the staffs’ file on Charms.

As part of the recruitment process, the employer/prospective employer must also check that the applicant has the right to work in the UK.

See: GOV.UK: Checking a Job Applicants Right to Work.

Employers can be penalised / fined if they employ someone who does not have the right to work and they did not carry out the correct checks or did not do them properly.

Guidance: Children’s Homes – Recruiting Staff (Ofsted) provides that, if you are recruiting a permanent member of staff, you can, exceptionally, allow a person to start working at the Home if you only have the proof of identity and the DBS certificate, while you continue to make enquiries. For example, you may need to employ additional staff quickly. If you do this, the person must be supervised when working with children. You must be able to provide evidence that you have taken reasonable steps to obtain the information. There may be occasions when, despite your best efforts, you are not able to obtain some of the required information. Whilst this might happen occasionally, it should not happen regularly. It is not good recruitment practice to employ staff without all the required information. If you are unable to obtain all the relevant information, inspectors will want to know what additional action you took to satisfy yourself that the person was suitable and, if any relevant information was missing, what action you took to mitigate any risks you identified.

Guidance: Children’s Homes – Recruiting Staff (Ofsted) provides that you will need to check the identity of any agency staff before you allow them to work at the Home, to ensure that you have the correct person. However, you do not have to obtain all the other information yourself. For example, it is acceptable for you to see evidence of a clear DBS certificate and references, rather than apply for these yourself. You should be able to demonstrate the steps you took to satisfy yourself that the person was suitable.

If you need to use an agency member of staff at short notice, and you have not previously used this person, Ofsted expect you, as a minimum, to check their identity and obtain written confirmation from the agency that it has carried out the relevant suitability checks. You should review the evidence that the person is suitable as soon as possible, for example the next working day. In these circumstances, the agency staff member must not be in sole charge of the Home.

Inspectors may discuss with you the arrangements you have made with the agency or agencies you use to satisfy yourself that you can safely allow the staff they send to you to work at the Home. Inspectors may ask to see the evidence you have used to make your decision.

As part of your recruitment process, you may invite prospective employees to do a short visit. This is so that they can experience what working in the home may be like and meet your children. Ofsted would expect you to manage this carefully and sensitively so that it is not overwhelming or unsettling for children and fits into the routine of the home. The prospective employee cannot be counted in staffing numbers during the visit.

The prospective employee must be supervised at all times during the visit because they are not yet employed by you, so the relevant regulations do not apply to them. You may introduce them to the children, but they should not have access to children’s detailed personal information.

Homes2Inspire do not carry out interviews for prospective employees at the setting.

All positions are advertised following the safer recruitment requirements; clarifying the requirements of the role and screening process that takes place, these are authorised by senior management.

Homes2inspire use a wide range of advertising forums, including on-line job boards, local newspapers, recruitment fairs, ‘refer a friend’, Homes2inspire website as well as advertising internally to the wider Shaw Trust Group (In the Loop).

Applicants are asked to apply via Kallidus (an onboarding platform) for a position at Homes2inspire. These are initially screened by the recruitment team to ensure that meet the requirements of the role. For example, relevant experience, qualifications, transferrable skills etc.

Any applicants that are deemed suitable are contacted and invited to attend an assessment day or an interview via Microsoft Teams. Applicants are requested to complete the Homes2inspire application form and equal opportunities monitoring form prior to the assessment day, as well as bring relevant identification with them.

Homes2inspire invite suitable applicants to an assessment including:

• Vetting Interview;
• Manager interview;
• Child/ Young Person Interview (where possible);
• Report writing exercise (where possible).

If not already completed, applicants are required to complete an application form on the assessment day which details:

• Personal details;
• Confirmation of right to work;
• Full employment history;
• Referee details;
• Notification to complete a DBS check;
• Convictions;
• Equal opportunities monitoring.

The application form is vetted by a suitable person during the assessment day. Any concerns raised by the applicant or on the application form is raised to the interviewing Managers and discussed during the interview or vetting interview. Concerns are also discussed during the multi-disciplinary consultation.

Applicants are required to provide relevant documentation required for Right to Work checks and proof of address; copies of these documents are taken by a suitable person.

The Manager interview is completed with two suitable Managers and covers all aspects of safer recruitment protocols. During the interview, the Managers will explain the Homes2inspire expectations for staff, organisations history, values and day to day running of the home. The candidate is encouraged to reflect upon all the information presented before accepting any potential offer made. The Managers must also complete the Candidate Feedback form for all applicants.

Where possible, all applicants will also complete an interview with a child or young person. The child or young person is accompanied by an appropriate person who will observe and record the interaction and engagement with the child or young person. The feedback provided is discussed during the multi-disciplinary consultation.

As part of the assessment day, applicants may also be required to complete a report writing assessment to observe the information they record, the accuracy and test literacy and ICT skills.

Following completion of the assessment process, a multi-disciplinary consultation is held, each applicant is discussed, and decision of appointment is made. Any decision at this stage is made subject to further pre-employment clearance under Schedule 2 requirements, start dates will not be provided until all pre-employment checks have been completed.

Following the assessment day, HR verbally offer suitable applicants a position. If accepted the Recruitment Team will send the applicant a conditional offer letter including the pre-employment medical and Ucheck DBS application link. The Recruitment Team will also send the applicant’s application form to Giant for them to begin reference checks.

Interview notes, application form and identification for all successful candidates will be scanned to Charms following the assessment day.

Unsuccessful candidates will be advised by the Recruitment Team and their assessment documents will be retained for 6 months in line with Data Protection legislation. The six-month retention period will allow the company to deal with any data requests, recruitment complaints or to respond to any complaints made to an Employment Tribunal.

During times where face to face assessments is not appropriate, interviews over Microsoft Teams will be completed. Applicants will be required to complete their application form prior to their interview, and this will be reviewed by the relevant Manager and discussed during the interview. If successful, the candidate will be invited to a suitable location to complete further vetting checks and conditional offer may be made.

All staff must have proof of identity including a recent photograph. Where possible this will include photo identity in the form of passport, driving licence, residence permit or other Government issued photo identification.

There will be times the candidate cannot provide photo identification, where this is the case the Manager and HR must assure themselves, the person presenting themselves is the person they have completed employment checks for. If photo identification is not presented a UK birth certificate and proof of national insurance must be provided along with proof of address documentation. 

A photo of all successful applicants will be taken on day one of the initial training course, this will be uploaded to Charms and used to create the employees ID badge.

Applicants will be asked to complete an Homes2inspire application form prior to their interview which includes full employment history and referee details.

References for shortlisted candidates will be requested as soon as a conditional offer of employment has been accepted, subject to consent from the applicant. Professional referee details for the most recent role plus one other must be contacted. All previous roles working with children, young people or vulnerable adults must have reasonable attempts made to verify the reason for leaving the role verified. The applicant will also be asked to confirm reasons for leaving these roles on their application form.

References will mostly be sought and obtained directly from the referee by Homes2Inspire Recruitment Team.

The Recruitment Team will vet the application form on the assessment day or following interview via a Microsoft Teams call to discuss references to be sought and discuss any discrepancies or anomalies with the applicant. Reasonable attempts to verbally verify each of the references received will be undertaken by the Recruitment Team.

The Recruitment Team will review the applicant’s application form to ensure full employment history is provided and all gaps over 28 days are explained by the applicant to a satisfactory standard. This may include requesting additional letters from the applicant including bank statements, benefit letters or travel documents.

Anyone appointed to a post involving regular contact with vulnerable children or young people must possess the appropriate level of physical and mental fitness before any appointment offer is confirmed. At point of offer HR will send the applicant a pre-employment medical questionnaire for completion. Any concerns identified through this questionnaire will be discussed with the applicant and risk-assessed.

Candidates will be offered a start date on completion of DBS and most recent reference received. There may be occasions where a start date is offered prior, however new starters will not commence shifts within the home until pre-employment checks have been completed to a satisfactory level. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of employment checks.

Once start date is confirmed, HR will complete the manual offer form and send with application form and right to work documents to HR Shared Services who will process the offer.

Once the pre-employment checks including referencing and DBS check have all been completed by the Recruitment Team they will complete the recruitment checklist and add to Charms along with all documents for Manager and Senior Manager to view and sign off.

The Manager and Senior Manager would also need to confirm they are satisfied with the contents of the employment checks for the offer to proceed.

If there are any anomalies or queries identified on the employment checks from  Management, this will be passed back to the Recruitment Team for review.

The Recruitment Team will ensure the applicant returns their contract documents in a timely manner to ensure they are processed by Payroll.

Overview

Homes2inspire believe that we have a responsibility to enable care leavers, many of whom may have had adverse childhood experiences to support their aspirations and improve their life chances, to have excellent opportunities in adult life. Homes2inspire as a care provider can play an important role in employing care leavers providing that they are able to demonstrate the ability to provide excellent care for those they look after, and their lived experience can provide excellent insight and support to both other staff and looked after children. As an employer we believe that we should guarantee all care leavers an interview and where it is right to do so offer employment setting the standards we would wish other employers to follow.

As an employer Home2inspire can make a difference by providing employment opportunities and training with, effective support and supervision to care leavers, and support them to achieve their potential. In return, Homes2inspire will benefit from fresh new talent with lived experience, who will bring different skills and perspectives to our businesses.

Providing employment to care leavers will demonstrate that we are living up to our values within the wider charity Shaw Trust, meet our corporate social responsibility, while simultaneously helping care leavers to meet their aspirations to be productive, confident, make a valuable contribution and have a brighter future.

Employing Care Leavers supports our objective to create a diverse workforce. Care leavers have great potential as employees but sometimes find it challenging to get an interview and may not have always had the necessary careers advice and support to be prepared for an interview in a professional role. Homes2inspire have a commitment to support as many care leavers as possible into sustainable employment.

Care leavers will have the same opportunities as any other employee and be expected to fully fulfil the role for which they have been employed.

There are however certain areas that will need to be explored with a care leaver to determine the most appropriate home or care leaving facility that they may work in and their ability to safeguard themselves from triggers they may experience by being exposed to behaviours displayed by children and young people. This should be done in an open and transparent way with the employee:

1. It will not be appropriate for a care leaver who has previously been looked after by Homes2inspire to work in the home where they were previously accommodated. This will avoid any perceived unconscious bias either by the care leaver or the staff who had looked after them previously;
2. It will not be appropriate for any care leaver to work in a service where any of their family are being looked after;
3. Careful consideration will need to be given to where a care leaver works if any of their immediate family are receiving support from a Local Authority where the home or facility is based which may cause a conflict of interest;
4. Careful consideration should be given as to where the care leaver works if they are still themselves receiving support from the same Local Authority who has commissioned the service;
5. Permission should be sought from the care leaver to discuss with the relevant Local Authority their appointment to a role within Homes2inspire if they are still receiving services or have received services from that authority to ensure there are no issues on either side that may require a resolution;
6. Discuss with Care Leaver what emotional support they may require in addition to supervision and initial training.

When employing care leavers it is important to assess them based on their ability to meet the job specification providing opportunities for them to reflect on their time in care and how this will enable them to be supportive carers for children they will look after.

As with any potential employee, skills, experience, attitudes and values will be a determining factor in any employment.

There are a number of positives in recruiting care leavers, not only does it provide our current looked after children and young people with a positive role model to look up to, it also supports the Manager’s message on how children and young people can create successful careers for themselves. Care leavers also have the lived experience they may wish to share with the children and young people where it is appropriate to do so.

By advertising that we will guarantee an interview for a care leaver will demonstrate our commitment to offering employment where it is right and appropriate to do so. This should encourage care leavers to apply for roles within Homes2inpsire.

By guaranteeing an interview to a care leaver will also require the panel to provide feedback and support to a care leaver who may be unsuccessful in obtaining employment on this occasion which will provide additional help, support and advice that may help future job applications.

Homes2inspire make it clear in our recruitment materials that we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds, including those who have previously been in care. Homes2inspire provide information on how applicants can declare information that may be relevant to the recruitment process this includes disabilities or caring responsibilities, as well as experience of being in care.

Care leavers will be expected to carry out their role as any other employee however, the following areas should be considered to ensure that care leavers can get any help and support to ensure they are successful in their role. This may include agreeing the necessary support, advice and guidance if a care leaver meets any of the categories detailed above.

The following are aimed at line managers and supervisors of care leavers to help you make the most of their talents and skills.

• Provide support for care leavers to understand their role This is likely to be the young person’s first experience of employment and so they might need some additional support to understand their role and the expectations of them in the workplace;
• A care leaver may need enhanced support to: Understand their job description, their role and how to complete their work effectively; understand precisely what is expected of them as an employee; and feel they are valued and part of a wider team;
• Particular support should be given to care leavers to understand areas of confidentiality, use of social media and contact with peers who may still be receiving services from the Local Authority. This will need to be addressed through Homes2inspire’s Code of Conduct;
• Whilst all employees must fulfil their duties in accordance with their contracts some care leavers, (as with certain members of staff) may not have the support network that is in place to offer them help and guidance outside of the work setting, it is therefore important that Managers and Supervisors offer different support to ensure that the employee can maximise their potential where this support is not available to them outside of the workplace.

A key role of any manager is to help your employee develop, it is therefore very important that care leavers recognise that we will support their aspirations for progression with training, learning and continuous development.

Due to the nature of the organisations work and business it is essential that the organisation remains transparent in all regards and particularly where the integrity and professionalism of the organisation and its employees could be challenged.

The organisation recognises that in its working environment personal relationships may develop between employees and that applicants or prospective workers who are related or have had personal relationships with employees may seek employment with the organisation.

For the purposes of this document “close personal or familial relationship” means (as well as specifically stated) a close, intimate or sexual relationship that could give rise to a conflict of interests or lead to undue influence or a lack of objectivity in the recruitment process or workplace or could lead to a perception by others of such impropriety, favouritism, abuse of authority or conflict of interest. Further details can be found in the Homes2inspire Code of Conduct.

Employees who are related or who have a close personal or familial relationship with a colleague or prospective employee, which may give rise to a real, potential, or perceived conflict of interest, should notify their Line Manager as soon as possible.

Whilst not a bar to employment, applicants should declare any personal or familial relationship with existing organisation employees in their application for employment.

The organisation shall treat any notification or declaration in confidence and seek advice from the Human Resources Department.

If an employee involved in the recruitment processes (internal as well as external recruitment processes) has a close personal or familial relationship with a candidate, the employee should declare this to the Human Resources as soon as they are aware of the candidate’s application. In such situations it would normally be appropriate for the employee to have no further involvement in the selection processes.

If an employee has declared a close personal relationship or familial relationship with a colleague, the organisation will need to consider the impact the relationship will cause within the working environment and any resulting risks of conflict of interest.

For this reason, except in exceptional circumstances, where practicable no line manager or supervisor may have a direct report who is an immediate family member or with whom they have been in a close personal relationship for more than 6 months working for them.

Under no circumstances should management reviews such as probationary reviews, Employee Performance Appraisal Review and supervisions be undertaken with a direct report who is an immediate family member or with whom they have been in a close personal relationship.

It is expected that employees will declare, during the pre-employment vetting process or as such information arises, any relevant detail relating to close family members which may give rise to a potential conflict of interest.

While such an event would not be a bar to employment, we would, for example, expect to be informed of a partner/ spouse’s arrest or charge where this relates to young people, violence or sexual behaviour, so that we can ensure that an appropriate risk assessment is completed in relation to the employee.

All employees are encouraged to refer friends or family members who they believe would suit the role and culture at Homes2inspire. To do this, employees must complete the refer a friend application form and submit with the applicants CV to Careers@homes2inspire.co.uk at the point of application.

The applicant will then be invited to an assessment day for interview.

The referring employee must not be involved in the recruitment of the referred applicant.

If successful, a bonus payment will be made to the referring employee on completion of the applicant’s probationary period.