The Bichard Inquiry - Report - Digital Education Resource Archive ...

no interview panel for staff working in schools should be convened without
at least one panel member being properly trained.
77 I also want to see the inspection bodies, such as Ofsted, reviewing
recruitment arrangements in schools. I understand that the Commission for
Social Care Improvement already includes an evaluation of evidence of
effective recruitment and vetting procedures in its inspections of regulated
care settings.
Conclusion
78 I have already announced that I shall reconvene the Inquiry in six months’
time to review publicly the progress that has been made against these
various recommendations. I am aware that because of the speed with
which we have worked, some of the recommendations need further
detailed work, but I am confident that all those who have a part to play
will respond urgently.
79 For those agencies whose job it is to protect children and vulnerable
people, the harsh reality is that if a sufficiently devious person is determined
to seek out opportunities to work their evil, no one can guarantee that
they will be stopped. Our task is to make it as difficult as possible for them
to succeed, and if the various recommendations in this report had already
been in place, then it would have been significantly more difficult for
Huntley.
80 Even then, however, it will always be possible for someone like Huntley to slip
through the net unless intelligence records are maintained and accessed
effectively. It is quite clear that in this case that did not happen because of
serious failings over a period of several years.
12 The Bichard Inquiry – Introduction and summary