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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