Safeguarding
SAFEGUARDING - Drawing the Line: A report on the government's vetting and barring scheme. This report looks at concerns about the vetting and barring scheme and checks that the government has drawn the line in the right place in relation to the requirement to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. This report takes into account public concerns about the scheme and checks that the Government had drawn the line in the right place in relation to the requirement to register, particularly with regard to the frequency of contact with children which should trigger the obligation to register with the ISA. The recommendations, which have all been accepted by the Government, include changes to the rules so that 16-18 year-olds in education will not be required to register. The press release is at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0250 Also see: http://publications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01122-2009 (added 07.01.10)
Safeguarding Report for the SW - now available.
Resources can be seen by following the link - http://www.vysdevon.org.uk/resource/cat/safeguarding
Independent Safeguarding Authority - Vetting & Barring Scheme Information & UpdateThe new Vetting and Barring Scheme came into force on 12th October 2009 and is designed to both improve and to extend the current employment vetting practices. The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is a non-departmental public body which has been established to manage the Scheme and make the barring decisions. The Scheme will cover all those who currently work or volunteer, or seek to work or volunteer with children and/or vulnerable adults and will affect some 11.3 million people in the UK.
Individuals will be able to apply for ISA registration through the Criminal Records Bureau from 26th July 2010 (becoming a legal requirement from November 2010), and will do so via existing Registered Bodies. Registrations to the Scheme will be phased in over a 5 year period, commencing on 26th July 2010.
The new Scheme will create a single list of those barred from working with children and a single list of those barred from working with vulnerable adults. As a consequence the former barring regimes (POCA, POVA, List 99 and Disqualification Order) no longer exist. The Scheme does not replace the need for CRB checks as it will not highlight a person’s criminal background to an employer, it will only consider information which is deemed serious enough to place someone on a barred list.
You are not now able to have a Standard check done for anyone working with children and/or vulnerable adults - they will require an Enhanced check.
For more information see the VYS document - Independent Safeguarding Authority and also the ISA website http://www.isa-gov.org.uk/