9:00 pm
John Dunford: We welcome the additional search powers, but we refer to some very specific issues in our briefing and I very much hope that the Committee considers them—for example, the number and gender of teachers who have to be with children when they are searched. I presume you do not want me to go into that level of detail in this general session. In general terms, we welcome the search powers, but please look carefully at what we say in our briefing, because we think that you could actually make it more difficult, instead of less difficult, which is what you are trying to do.
On the use of force, we are clear that if there is a major use of force then that is something the school would wish to communicate about with a parent, and schools already do that. If, on the other hand, a teacher goes into the playground to break up a fight and does so, we do not want to get into a position where that kind of thing has to be reported to parents—we should just deal with it and get on with life. It might be on the face of the Bill or it might be in guidance, but we want to make it clear that that duty relates only to significant use of force—if you feel that that can be properly defined. Otherwise, frankly, we would not want another legal duty in this area.