Protecting children and young people is everyone's responsibility. It is our role to support arts and education professionals in managing this responsibility effectively. We do this through the provision of guidance and a CRB processing service for arts education professionals.
In relation to CRB disclosure. the following guidance sets out our expectations and the responsibilities of those working with children and young people in arts education settings.
Schools and Youth Organisations
It is the responsibility of the school / project organiser to make sure that artists/arts professionals are suitable for work with children, young people or vulnerable adults.
Schools or youth settings employing arts practitioners to work with their young people should request not only a copy of their CRB certificate, but also check that the professional holds the relevant qualifications, training, experience and appropriate references for the work s/he has been employed to deliver.
All schools, FE institutions and children’s services should 'give effect to their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils', as stated in the guide Working Together to Safeguard Children from HM Government 2006.
We expect all schools and organisations dealing with children, young people and vulnerable adults to have procedures for issues of abuse, disclosure and unprofessional conduct so that there is a clear understanding of what to do if any suspicions are raised at any time.
We advise all such settings to take responsibility for the protection of the children and young people in their care by designating a senior member of staff to take lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues, providing advice and support to other staff, liaising with the Local Authority, and working with other organisations as necessary.
All education and youth professionals registered with LONSAS / EAS WM should be familiar with the Government guidance Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education.
Artists and Arts Organisations
All Individual artists featured in the LONSAS Arts Directory must provide a standard or enhanced CRB certificate from within the last 3 years
All Arts Organisations featured on the LONSAS Arts Directory must assure LONSAS that all those employed by the organisation that have contact with children, young people and vulnerable young adults, hold appropriate level CRB disclosure.
CRB checks do not relieve you from your child protection responsibilities and a duty of care towards children, young people and vulnerable adults.
We advise practitioners to offer any information with regards to their criminal record that they think might be of interest to anyone employing their services.
We expect arts education professionals registered with the service to be aware of the policies and issues surrounding their work. Anyone working with or for children and young people hold responsibility for their safety and the prevention of any form of abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional and/or neglect. We advise all arts professionals working in school, education or youth settings to familiarise themselves with the guidance set out in the Arts Council England Guidance Keeping Arts Safe.
Artists working with children and young people should always be accompanied by a teacher. It is the teacher's responsibility to manage classroom behaviour whilst the artist is undertaking creative work. As well as enhancing safety, this enables the artist to ensure that pupils gain maximum benefit from the activities offered.
LONSAS Responsibilities
We reserve the right to remove any school, artist and arts organisation from this website if there has been a failure to comply with the above pre-requisites.
We will log any complaint made about an artist and/or organisation listed on its website and will reserve the right to investigate the matter.
We are not a quality assurance body and cannot judge the work delivered by the arts practitioners appearing on its database by its artistic and educational standards.
We are an external agency and therefore cannot deal directly with a complaint made from one of the parties in a particular situation. We can only expect that both schools and arts practitioners adhere to their personal and institutional responsibilities by reviewing and updating their policies and procedures in the light of developments in their own practice and in legislation relating to protection issues.
Criminal Records
A criminal record detailed on a CRB certificate is not necessarily a bar to appearing in the Directory (or working with children, young people or vulnerable adults), unless it is a 'Schedule One' offence under the Children and Young Person's Act 1933.
It is the employer’s responsibility to make adequate checks and have in place sufficient safeguarding procedures before employing Associates from the LONSAS Arts Directory. Any positive disclosure under a 'Schedule One offence' will result in the immediate withdrawal from the LONSAS Arts Directory. Further information on
criminal records can be found in the
safeguarding section of this website.
Non-Schedule One Offences
Where the offence is not under Schedule One, the decision to withdraw an individual from the Arts Directory will only be taken following due consideration of the circumstances, and relevance of the offence, and only after the person who is the subject of the disclosure information is afforded the opportunity to discuss the circumstances of any convictions or other matters revealed as a result of the disclosure (read more about the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders).
CRB - only part of the picture
We stress to project organisers that CRB Disclosure is only one element of safeguarding procedures. It is important to ensure that appropriate references are taken up, artists/arts professionals have the necessary training or experience to work with children, young people or vulnerable adults and that projects are planned and implemented following good safeguarding guidelines.
No Formal Period of Validity
A Disclosure carries no formal period of validity. By its nature, the information presented on a CRB certificate is only current at the time of issue. LONSAS is a CRB umbrella body, we process certificates for LONSAS Associates, and other artists, arts organisations, and voluntary organisations. Visit the CRB Service area of the website to find out more.