News Round Up From The Legal Services Framework

As the contract managers of the Legal Services framework, we have brought you a round up of the latest industry news from some of the framework suppliers.

Are you ready for the new Procurement Act?

The commencement date for the Procurement Act 2023 has been postponed until February 2025. Whilst this delay has given procurement teams a temporary reprieve, this will be the biggest shake up in the procurement world for nearly a decade and those working in procurement roles will need to prepare.

Further news in the Education Sector:

Teacher Recruitment

One of the Government’s key priorities is the recruitment and retaining of more teachers, with a pledge to recruit 6500 new teachers, identifying increased funding and support together with enhanced career pathways as a means to achieve this.

Academy Trust Handbook 2024 Published

The new Academy Trust Handbook took effect on 1 September 2024. Although there are minimal updates in comparison to previous years, it aims to extend greater freedom to manage resources and a shift towards the use of professional internal audit function for those trusts in receipt of higher levels of funding.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) updated 2024

The Department for Education published an updated version of the statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England.

Mobile phones in schools guidance published

The Department for Education published “Mobile phones in schools, Guidance for schools on prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day” in February 2024.

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace

Recent reports have suggested that sexual harassment is particularly prevalent in the education setting, with support staff being identified as common victims of such behavior. For example, a recent survey found that “1 in 10 female support staff in secondary schools say they have been sexually harassed, mainly by male pupils but also by male colleagues.”

Furthermore, it has been reported that “25% of secondary school support staff have witnessed sexual harassment in their workplace during the past five years.” There are concerns however that these figures are likely to be higher than this due to the under-reporting of such instances. For example, only 42% of staff who witnessed the instances of sexual harassment in the workplace reported it. It is likely that the under-reporting of such incidents arises from concerns regarding, amongst others, potential consequences on career, or fears that the allegations may be dismissed.

It is important therefore that employers in the education sector in particular are aware of the new obligation to take steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (the “Act”) came into force on 26 October 2024.

The Act will impose a positive obligation on the employer to take “reasonable steps” to protect their workers from sexual harassment in the workplace. This obligation is anticipatory to avoid scenarios of workplace sexual harassment taking place.