MSPs query need to check up on parents

A committee of MSPs has recommended that the Scottish Executive should investigate whether parents volunteering to help out at school PTA events were required to undergo police checks.

A committee of MSPs has recommended that the Scottish Executive should investigate whether parents volunteering to help out at school PTA events were required to undergo police checks.

The education committee, in its report on child protection published earlier this month, has echoed concerns raised by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council that parent volunteers were being required by some local authorities to undergo unnecessary checks by Disclosure Scotland simply to help out at a PTA school disco. The parents' body claimed that the regulations were not intended for events where volunteers are not in sole charge of children, and that over-zealous application of disclosure checks was in danger of putting some parents off becoming involved in school activities.

The report gave the SPTC backing in its demands that the Scottish Executive give clearer guidance to prevent inconsistencies.
The report has also called on the executive to eliminate the "wasteful practice" of requiring some individuals to make multiple applications for disclosure of their records – for instance, if they were volunteers contributing to a variety of organisations. MSPs said: "This would appear to be an additional, unnecessary burden on both individuals and a pressured but vital system and the committee recommends that the Scottish Executive seeks ways of eliminating this wasteful practice."
Judith Gillespie, development manager of the SPTC, said that the council was pleased that the committee had recognised the need to clarify the position of PTAs and volunteer helpers, adding that action would bring consistency across Scotland and end a growing level of confusion.

ELIZABETH BUIE, Education Editor The Herald