“The Secretary of State for Education has announced his intention to appoint new panellists to the Teaching Regulation Agency – Professional Conduct Panels..
Under the Education Act 2011, the Secretary of State has responsibility to regulate teachers’ conduct and to hold a list of teachers who have been prohibited from teaching. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) operates the regulatory system on his behalf and within the framework provided under the Teachers’ Disciplinary (England) Regulation 2012. The purpose of this regulatory function is to protect pupils, maintain public confidence in the teaching profession and uphold high standards of teacher conduct. In order to carry out this function teacher and lay panellists are appointed by the Secretary of State to sit on Professional Conduct Panels (PCPs). The panels are convened to hear and consider only the most serious allegations against teachers and then determine whether a recommendation for prohibition should be made to the Secretary of State. Final decisions whether to issue a prohibition order are taken by TRA senior officials acting on behalf of the Secretary of State.
We will be looking to recruit around 70 serving or recently serving school teachers and lay members from all sections of the community to sit as panellists on the TRA PCPs. Successful applicants will be required to consider evidence presented in relation to allegations of serious misconduct against teachers whose cases have been referred to the Secretary of State by their employers, the Police, the Independent Safeguarding Authority, other regulators and the public, to make decisions, based on evidence presented at professional conduct panel hearings, as to whether the allegations against the teacher have been proved and to make recommendations to the Secretary of State as to whether the teacher should be prohibited from teaching.
We need people who have the ability to manage complex, sensitive and confidential information in a fair and balanced way to arrive at well judged and reasonable decisions. The ability to generate the trust, confidence and respect of others and to deal impartially with all matters raised during hearings is also essential. Professional conduct panel hearings are likely to be held at the Department of Education offices in Coventry and we would expect panellists to sit between 12 and 20 days a year. The majority of PCP hearings last between three and five days with more complex cases taking longer, for example ten days or more. More information on the vacancies and how to apply can be found at http://bit.ly/TRATPCP
These are unpaid voluntary posts. However, appointed panellists will be eligible to claim expenses for travel and subsistence costs necessarily incurred on TRA business. Expenses will be paid in line with Department for Education guidelines.
These are Public Appointments and as such are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.”