HOME OFFICE News
Release (082/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 1 April 2008
Changes to checks
for those working with children and vulnerable adults will start
from October 2009 it was announced today. The fees structure for
the scheme has also been set.
The creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is
part of the biggest overhaul of vetting and barring arrangements
ever undertaken in this country. It will cover 11.3 million people
wishing to seek work or volunteer with children or vulnerable adults.
The ISA scheme will mean a single vetting authority maintains a
constantly updated list of people who are not allowed to work with
children or vulnerable adults - this will incorporate all existing
barring lists.
If a person is not barred from employment with vulnerable people
they will be ISA registered, although it will remain the
employer's decision whether to hire them. The authority will
work alongside the Criminal Records Bureau, which will continue to
issue criminal records disclosures to help employers make
recruitment decisions.
Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said:
"The Independent Safeguarding Authority is at the heart of
the Government's drive to increase the protection of
vulnerable members of our society.
"The mandatory scheme aims to prevent those who are deemed
unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults from
gaining access to them through their work.
"From October 2009 employers will be able to check that
individual staff members have been assessed for work with
vulnerable groups, further enhancing one of the most robust
employment checking systems in the world."
The ISA is an independent body with its own remit and barring
criteria which will decide on a case-by-case basis if an
individual poses a risk of harm to vulnerable groups.
Individuals wishing to undertake paid employment while engaging
with vulnerable groups will pay a one-off fee of £64. The fee will
consist of two components: an ISA registration fee of £28 and a
CRB enhanced disclosure, currently £36, which provides employers
with details of information held on police records about potential
staff members.
However, there will be no cost for volunteers.
Sir Roger Singleton, ISA Chairman said:
"The Independent Safeguarding Authority will provide a
groundbreaking vetting and barring service to prevent those deemed
unsuitable from working with children or vulnerable adults from
October 2009.
"The go-live date has been reached after consultation with
key strategic partners to make sure that it is not only
operationally feasible, but that it also gives employers enough
time to fully prepare for the introduction of the scheme.
"This is a complex scheme which will cover 11.3 million
people within a wide variety of workplaces. Starting in 2009 will
allow us to ensure an improved level of safeguarding as well the
development of better information sharing systems."
Notes to Editors
1. The ISA was established in January 2008 after being created by
the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The scheme is one of
31 recommendations in the Bichard report.
2. The overriding aim of the ISA will be to help avoid harm, or
risk of harm, to children and vulnerable adults. It will aim to do
this by preventing those who are deemed unsuitable to work with
children and/or vulnerable adults from gaining access to them
through their work.
It will do this by:
* working in partnership with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB),
which will gather information on a person who will or wishes to
work in regulated or controlled activity with vulnerable groups;
* using this information to decide on a case-by-case basis if an
individual is poses a risk of harm to vulnerable groups; and
* securely storing information about people's ISA status for
employers and voluntary organisations to use when they are recruiting.
3. The scheme will be largely self-financing. Individual
applicants wishing to seek work with vulnerable groups engaging in
regulated or controlled activities will have to pay a fee of £64.
The fee will consist of two components - a CRB enhanced disclosure
which currently costs £36 and the cost of an ISA registration
which will be £28.
Volunteers will not have to pay a registration fee.
4. The ISA is a Non-Departmental Public Body. It will be based in
Darlington and it will consist of a small Board of public
appointees and up to 300 ISA employees. The employees will be
highly skilled and trained to make barring decisions.