Extracurricular Activities: Vetting

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The majority of out-of-school settings providers do a good job of delivering safe and enriching education and activities.

These providers have a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of children that attend their setting and protect them from harm. Local authorities are also legally responsible for safeguarding children in their areas and, when there are concerns, we expect them to intervene using the wide range of powers available to them. Similarly, local authorities have a statutory duty to make enquiries about safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014. Statutory guidance for the Care Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective, and of high-quality.

We have acted to improve sector safety by updating the safeguarding code of practice for out-of-school setting providers and accompanying guidance for parents and carers. We also published new e-learning for out-of-school providers and strengthened guidance for local authorities.

We are seeking to further improve safeguarding standards and have published a call for evidence to help improve our understanding of safeguarding within the sector. This will help gather evidence required to inform potential approaches, such as a national framework, and enhance the safety of these settings.