Audit finds expired DBS checks for north Wales supply teachers

Dale Spridgeon, Local Democracy Reporter

An internal council audit found two supply teachers were working in north Wales schools even though their DBS documentation had expired.

The Disclosure and Barring Service or DBS is a criminal record check process used by employers to establish if candidates are safe and suitable particularly in roles involving children or vulnerable adults.

The findings came as the management of safeguarding risks including the use of supply teachers was being discussed during an Anglesey Council Governance and Audit Committee meeting, on Thursday (17 July).

Councillors were given details of a review of the July, 2026 Internal Audit Update report, by the council’s head of Audit and Risk Marion Pryor.

The internal review had sought to establish if the council’s arrangements were “effective in ensuring that relief teachers were recruited safely and complied with safeguarding legislation”.

Some areas “requiring improvement” had been identified although “key safeguarding practices were evident across the sample schools”.
Nevertheless the report found that the “overall control environment is not operating consistently enough to provide robust assurance. Limited Assurance has therefore been provided”.

It stated: “The main areas requiring improvement relate to inconsistent safer-recruitment renewal checks, limited evidence of supply-teacher induction and safeguarding briefings, and the need for clearer ownership and escalation arrangements, where concerns involve supply staff working across multiple settings.

“Sample testing identified two cases where DBS [Disclosure and Barring Service] and [Education Workforce Council] renewals had not been completed reinforcing the need for reliable central tracking, particularly as the ‘Teacher Booker’ pilot is due to end in July, 2026.”

The report added: “Six issues/risks have been raised, comprising five major and one moderate issue. Management has agreed an action plan, with most actions expected to be addressed by September 2026 and the remaining action by November 2026.”

“Given the cross-service implications for schools, the Learning Service, HR and Social Services, progress will be monitored by senior leadership and a follow up review reported to the Governance and Audit Committee in February, 2027,” the report concluded.

Committee lay members including William Parry and William Maund were among those querying details.

Head of Audit and Risk Marion Prior had said: “I think in this case it [DBS] had run out, rather than never having had one in the first case. I think that is slightly different, probably not quite as high a risk.”

Mr Parry said:  “I find it unimaginable that someone could walk into a school and teach children and not be cleared through the DBS system. I find that astonishing.”

Ms Prior explained: “As I say it is not that they hadn’t cleared. I think they [the DBSs] run for three years. It had run out, I think only just. There was no process for ensuring the renewal.

“I think it would be unlikely that somebody would be able to teach in a school without having ever been through a DBS check. What I would say as a caveat to the DBS, we know that actually, it is not a fantastic control in its own right, it’s a snapshot in time.”

Mr Parry said he would have “at least expected  an email to go to every head on the island saying I need your confirmation within 24 hours that you have checked every DBS in your school, not reminding them of policy”.

Mr  Maund also noted that having a valid DBS “is a statutory requirement”.
Committee chairman  Dr Geraint Jones said it was crucial that auditing mechanisms were in place to ensure DBS checks were valid and up to date.

Education chief Aaron C Evans said they were “working with schools to put tighter measures in place”.
He added: “We are working towards a system where we will receive an alert to say when that DBS needs to be renewed, so the system will be more robust.”

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