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Government responds to second ISA consultation

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2008/0103) issued by The Government News Network on 30 May 2008

The Government today published its formal response to the recent consultation on the Independent Safeguarding Authority scheme for vetting and barring those who wish to work, either paid or unpaid, with children or vulnerable adults. The response document sets out the Government's evaluation of stakeholders' responses to the consultation and next steps.

It has been produced jointly by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Home Office and Department of Health.

The Government has taken account of stakeholders' views and set out the following policies in response:

Under 16s in the workplace

Where young people under 16 work, the adults who teach, train or instruct them in the workplace will not be required to register with the ISA scheme. But it will be an offence for a barred adult to do this work, or for an employer knowingly to use a barred person for this work.

This means that managers of newsagents and other shops will not have to register before they can employ newspaper delivery boys and girls or under 16s in Saturday jobs.

Those who train or supervise employees who are under 16 will be able to register with the ISA scheme and their employers will be able to check them if they wish. These decisions to register and to check should be taken in the light of the circumstances and a commonsense assessment of risk. This is how the arrangements work at present, whereby employers check their employees who are supervising fellow employees who are under 16.

Work experience organisers will want - as they do now - to agree appropriate safeguarding measures with the employer which may include ISA checks. It is essential that young people in these placements are safe, including those who are working towards the new Diplomas.

Teaching 16 and 17 year olds in mixed age settings in higher education, sport and leisure

We are confirming the proposal in the consultation document that those who teach, train or instruct 16 and 17 year olds in mixed age settings in higher education and sport and leisure will not have to register with the ISA scheme.

However Ministers have decided in response to the consultation that barred people who work with 16 and 17 year olds in these mixed age settings will commit an offence, as will employers who knowingly allow them to do so. This is a tightening of the policy as set out in the consultation document.

So employers will be able to take a commonsense and risk-based approach to asking employees whether they are registered with the ISA, or wish to register, bearing in mind the importance of safeguarding and the trust they have in the employee.

Definition of a vulnerable adult

We confirm the consultation proposal that vulnerable adults who need the protection of the scheme should not include those suffering from dyslexia and, in response to the consultation, will extend this exemption to related conditions such as dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Referrals

Employers will be required to refer to the ISA any employees whom they dismiss or would have dismissed on the grounds that they have harmed or pose a risk of harm to the vulnerable groups. This is a significant strengthening of safeguarding as the requirement to refer will cover all regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults rather than just education, children's social care, childcare and adults' social care.

We will act on responses to the consultation by augmenting the list of evidence documents that must be included in a referral if they are available. It is worth noting that employers will not be required to produce documents that they do not hold.

ISA consideration: notification of employer

In response to the consultation we have concluded that, when the ISA is considering whether to bar someone, it must proactively inform any employer whom the ISA knows has an interest in the employee and who may be unaware that that employee is under consideration. This will happen at the point when the ISA thinks the employer should be aware of a potential risk of harm to the vulnerable groups. However before informing the employer, the ISA must be satisfied that the referral is not clearly unfounded or malicious, and also that it is not trivial but is serious enough to warrant consideration for barring.

The new policy balances the need to safeguard the vulnerable groups from risk of harm with the right of the employee to be treated fairly. The information provided by the ISA will enable the employer to put in place any appropriate extra safeguards until a decision to bar or not to bar is taken.

Background

The new Independent Safeguarding Authority will take consistent expert decisions as to who should be included in the new lists of people who will be barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults.

The system was legislated for in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act:

- Those who are judged to pose a risk to children or vulnerable adults will be prevented, at the earliest opportunity, from getting access to them via paid or unpaid work.

- there will be tough penalties for those employers who fail in their responsibility to carry out the necessary checks or recruit people who are not members of the scheme - including fines of up to £5,000;

- it will be a criminal offence for a barred individual to even seek a job in regulated activity working in close contact with children or vulnerable adults;

- employers and parents will be able to make an on-line check that a prospective employee is a member of the scheme and thus not barred;

- scheme members' status will be reviewed when new information becomes available and employers who have registered an interest will be notified when an individual ceases to be a member of the scheme. These are the same employees that will be notified by the ISA when an employee is under consideration for barring.

- a person will not be removed from a barred list unless he can convince the ISA that he no longer poses a risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults. An individual does not have a right to a review, but may apply for permission to apply for a review at the end of the Minimum No-Review period.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The response is available from http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations
The consultation took place between 14 Nov 2007 and 20 Feb. 326 responses were received.

The ISA scheme will go live in October 2009. People who work in, or volunteer to carry out, regulated activity with the vulnerable groups will be required to register with the scheme. Employers will be able to register their interest in being notified of any change in their workers' status in the scheme.

Home Office Ministers announced on 1 April 2008 that the application fee for registration with the ISA scheme will be £64, and that the registration fee will be waived for those who only work in an unpaid voluntary capacity.

Regulated activity involves work with children under 18, with the exception of 16 and 17 year olds in the workplace, and with vulnerable adults, for example those receiving health or social care services. Some 11 million workers and volunteers will need to register with the scheme in sectors such as education, health, childcare, social care, sport and leisure.

In addition to the main policy points noted above, the formal consultation response confirms and gives more detail on policy proposals in the consultation document in relation to scheme coverage, eligibility of employers to make checks of employees' status in the scheme and criminal records, controlled activity, employment agencies, and the way the scheme will be phased in from October 2009.

The Government has already introduced a number of measures to protect children and vulnerable adults including:

- The Protection of Children Act scheme was introduced in 2000, with the Protection of Vulnerable Adults scheme following in 2004;

- The Criminal Records Bureau was created in 2002, with the task of providing criminal records checks on people wishing to work with children or vulnerable adults - CRB checks are now mandatory for schools, the care home sector, and the domiciliary care sector;

- The Sexual Offences Act 2003 strengthened notification requirements for sex offenders;

- The Children Act 2004 further strengthened arrangements to safeguard and promote children's welfare, and introduced Local Safeguarding Children Boards;

- In 2006 we set up the Dignity in Care initiative to ensure all older people are treated with dignity when using health and social care services, and we also published the 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say' White Paper which included measures covering vulnerable adults;

- The Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education guidance, which is underpinned by regulations, came into force in January 2007. This consolidated guidance sets out the responsibilities of all local authorities and the education sector to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people;

- The recent cross-Governmental "Staying Safe" Action Plan and a new Public Service Agreement to improve children's safety demonstrate our resolve to go further;

- Anyone cautioned or convicted for specified sexual offences against children is automatically entered on List 99 and barred from working in schools and other education settings. The ISA scheme will build on these arrangements.

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