I would suggest that they raise their concerns with the Independent Schools Inspectorate if it isn't a school that is inspected by OFSTED:
www.isi.net/.../

ACAS wouldn't be able to help in this instance as the father isn't an employee.

Even if the employee resigned the school could have investigated and documented the reason for termination as being gross misconduct. They would need to follow the ACAS guidance on disciplinaries.

As far as I am aware, a gross misconduct decision be only taken after a formal proceeding, Correct?

Broadly yes. But GM can only be found against an employee not an ex-employee so as soon a sthey became "ex" the internal disciplinary matter closed

Is the school required to take any action against an ex-employee?

They may well have an obligation to report them to a regulatory body if there is a safeguarding concern

Is there any action to be taken against the spouse due to conflict of interest?

The spouse doesn't have a conflict of interest.

What actions should the father take at this point to ensure the wellbeing of his children?

He should follow up with the Board and if he really isn't satisfied he should consider removing his children from the school

Can the ACAS council be called in to be involved - as this is potentially a customer vs organization employee case, not sure if they would apply here? any thoughts?

This is not one for ACAS

Well, there's a lot in this!

The main point seems to be that a person is living on site, who has been accused of a safeguarding concern. The way that you phrased it is a 'failure to safeguard'. Can you give any more information about how the teacher living on site would represent a risk to your friend's children's wellbeing? If there is an ongoing risk, it is important that your friend follows up on it, and can make a complaint to ISI and to the Board - ultimately he can call the police if the matter is that serious.

It is also important to bear in mind that the school will need to deal with this issue sensitively - from what you've written, it sounds like they've already overstepped by telling your friend that they were about to dismiss someone for gross misconduct. In relation to other pupils and staff, it is highly likely that they do not know about the issue - and unless there is a reason for that information to be shared, it shouldn't be. I would similarly assume that they won't tell your friend everything that they are doing, as it would breach the individual's confidentiality. That doesn't mean that they aren't taking any steps themselves.

Finally, as others have mentioned, schools have a duty to report to the DBS if they dismiss (or would have dismissed, but for a resignation) due to a safeguarding concern. Again, they would not tell a parent that this was something they've done. Details about the need to refer to DBS are set out here: www.gov.uk/.../making-barring-referrals-to-the-dbs

I hope that helps.

Nina

Thanks Nina ! That's really helpful, unfortunately I can't share more details but know that your answer was extremely helpful. Big Thanks

The school informed the father that they were about to terminate the employee on Gross Misconduct

As Nina says, this was very much their first mistake. And it was a pretty big one.

First, they disclosed sensitive information about an employee (that they are facing disciplinary action). Second, they disclosed it to someone who wasn't another employee (which just exacerbates the offence). Third, they prejudiced any formal hearing by indicating ahead of time that the outcome had been pre-determined (dismissal for gross misconduct). Fourth, they made themselves liars when the employee did the sensible thing and jumped before they could push them.

So now they have an already-irate parent (and paying customer) who has been primed to expect action that wasn't forthcoming. Had they simply thanked him for his complaint and told him that it had been fully resolved, he would have had no idea whether the teacher in question had resigned or been dismissed and no right to know either way. But now they promised him someone would be dismissed and he knows that they weren't the situation has been exacerbated.

Of course, the whole thing seems to have been made far worse by the school having inadequate leadership in the field of Safeguarding, given that the institution seems to have no idea how to constructively and swiftly respond to this problem. This isn't an HR issue (although HR is clearly incompetent in this case as described), but the Head Teacher and Governors sound like they are grossly at fault

Your specific questions have really already been answered here, but I'll just add my thoughts for the sake of completeness and consistency of advice:

As far as I am aware, a gross misconduct decision be only taken after a formal proceeding, Correct?

Correct. The standard is really quite high to find gross misconduct and to award a summary dismissal. A formal hearing is the least of the requirements.

Is the school required to take any action against an ex-employee?

In a Safeguarding case, absolutely. They are obliged to investigate, record and - if grounds are found to do so - report the matter to the Local Authority Safeguarding Team. However, other than that, no.

Is there any action to be taken against the spouse due to conflict of interest?

Not that I can think of. That could be discrimination due to marital status, which is illegal under the Equality Act 2010. I can't see what possible conflict of interest could append to this unless the spouse was a decision maker in the Safeguarding matter (which they absolutely should not be), but there doesn't seem to be any suggestion that this is the case.

What actions should the father take at this point to ensure the wellbeing of his children?

If your account is accurate and the school's response to a serious Safeguarding allegation (I assume it must be serious if GM was presumed to be the inevitable outcome) is so dismal, I would advise them to remove their child to a different school!

Can the ACAS council be called in to be involved - as this is potentially a customer vs organization employee case, not sure if they would apply here? any thoughts?

This is absolutely nothing to do with ACAS. This is a matter for the Local Authority Safeguarding Team whose job it will be to audit the safeguarding practices of the school.

In reply to Robey:

Thank you Robey !! Apologies for the typo , yes extremely helpful. Big big thanks for the advice and knowledge. Really grateful :)

In reply to Saad:

...and Robey ;)

In reply to Steve Bridger:

I knew what he meant. XD

In reply to Nina Waters:

Thank you Nina !! Again extremely helpful. Big big thanks for the advice and knowledge. Really grateful :)