School staff should receive national training standards on restraint, EHRC says
Following on from its own inquiry into restraint in schools (2021), the EHRC is again recommending that the government’s guidance is reframed in line with the Human Rights Framework for Restraint
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned the government to create national training standards on restraint for school staff.
The response comes following the Department for Education’s consultation on its “Use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions guidance”.
The draft guidance stated that schools should prioritise de-escalation over restraint as well as recording every “significant” use of force and reporting it to the parents.
The commission has accepted several updates to the guidance, including a new expectation for schools to develop policies on reasonable force and other restrictive interventions, aligned with equality law legal duties.
Following on from its own inquiry into restraint in schools (2021), the EHRC is again recommending that the government’s guidance is reframed in line with the Human Rights Framework for Restraint. This would mean placing the rights of children at the centre of the guidance, with minimising restraint as the starting point.
The EHRC consultation response also argues that the proposed guidance uses imprecise definitions of “reasonable force” and “seclusion” and advises that these definitions are standardised and informed by human rights law principles.
Another recommendation made by the EHRC is for guidance to include further information on obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty and requirements to make reasonable adjustments.
John Kirkpatrick, chief executive of the EHRC, said: “Many elements of the Department for Education’s proposed guidance on restraint, align with our inquiry recommendations and restraint framework. These include improvements to the definitions of restraint and statutory sections explaining new legal requirements to record and report use of force.
“There are, however, still significant gaps. The proposed guidance positions important considerations like necessity and proportionality as optional, where they are in fact legally required. This potentially places both staff and children in jeopardy.”
He continued: “We are calling on the Department for Education to reframe the guidance to consider key human rights principles and introduce a national training standard for the restraint of children.”