Vetting and Barring
VETTING AND BARRING SCHEME ON HOLD PENDING GOVERNMENT REVIEW - JUNE 2010
Watch this space for updates. Information below is pre May 2010.
MARCH 2010. Full guidance about the Scheme is available now as a FREE download.
In response to the overwhelming interest in the subject, the guidance makes special mention of those areas where the Scheme does not apply and discusses the points raised by Sir Roger Singleton when he reported into the boundaries of the Scheme in December 2009.
Printed copies of this full guidance document will be available from April 5th ring 0300 123 1111 to request a copy.
The core purpose of the new Vetting and Barring Scheme is to prevent unsuitable people from working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults. All agencies working with children and vulnerable adults will be affected by the scheme and need to be aware of the implications.
The new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) involving the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will have a major impact on the recruitment and monitoring practices of people working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults.
Created under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the new Vetting and Barring Scheme will replace the current List 99, Protection of Children Act (PoCA), Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoVA) and Disqualification Orders regimes. The ISA will decide who is unsuitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable groups. It will base its decisions on pulling together information held by various agencies, government departments and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Once the scheme is fully rolled out, it will be illegal to hire someone in regulated activity who is not registered on the scheme, and has therefore not been checked by the ISA. The new scheme will cover employees and volunteers in the education, care and health industries, affecting some 11.3 million people.
Summary of the Vetting and Barring Scheme:-
- Information sharing between agencies is at the heart of the scheme
- Anyone working or volunteering with vulnerable groups in regulated activity must be registered
- Employers must verify an individual’s registration status
- Employers will be informed if an employee becomes de-registered from the Scheme
- Barring decisions will be taken by independent experts
Update February 2010 from Herts HR Safe Staffing VBS Project Team - Tel: 01992 556598 - email: vbs.team@hertscc.gov.uk
During December 2009 the government accepted Sir Roger Singleton's recommendations to make some important changes to the Vetting and Barring Scheme.
Changes to the Frequency Criteria
The scheme covers anyone who works in 'regulated activity' with children on a frequent or intensive basis. To re-cap, regulated activity is defined as, work (whether paid or unpaid) which involves regular, intensive or overnight contact with children or vulnerable adults and
- which is of a specified nature (e.g. training, supervision, care) or
- which takes place in a specified setting (e.g. schools, residential homes) or
- which involve people in certain specified positions of responsibility (e.g, school governors, directors of social service).
The Government has reviewed the definitions of 'frequent' and 'intensive'.
Frequent now means once a week or more.
Intensive now means four times or more in a thirty day period.
When will the changes happen?
June 2010 Herts HR Safe Staffing Team will send out stocks of a new combined CRB/ISA Application form to all umbrella body clients. If you use another umbrella body organisation you should contact them to check they will be sending out the new forms.
This will look similar to the existing CRB application form but there will be an additional section asking if ISA registration is required.
26th July 2010 From this date applications for ISA registration will be accepted. It should take around 7 days for applications to be processed.
November 2010 ISA registration will be a mandatory requirement for anyone taking part in regulated activity. This means you must not allow anyone to start working until you have confirmed that they are ISA registered.
April 2011 This is the first date from which you can start registering existing members of staff. The first group to be registered will be anyone who is working in schools but who has never been CRB checked.
April 2012 From this date you can start submitting ISA registration applications for staff and volunteers who have a current CRB check.
2014 You should aim to ensure that anyone working in regulated activity is now ISA registered.
July 2015 It will be a criminal offence to employ anyone in regulated activity who is not ISA registered.
2 key questions:-
Does ISA-registration replace a CRB check for working with vulnerable groups?
- No it will be in addition. An ISA check will reveal if a person is registered and considered suitable to work with vulnerable groups.
- A CRB check will reveal if a person has a criminal record and any relevant non-conviction information.
- A person could be registered with the ISA but still have a criminal record that, if known by the employer, may make them unsuitable for a specific role
What is regulated activity?
- Activity involving contact with children or vulnerable adults and is of a specified nature (e.g. teaching, training, care, supervision, advice, medical treatment or in certain circumstances transport) on a frequent, intensive and/or overnight basis
- Activity involving contact with children or vulnerable adults in a specified place (e.g. schools, care homes etc), frequently or intensively
- Fostering and childcare
- Certain specified positions of responsibility (e.g. school governor, director of children's services, director of adult social services, trustees of certain charities)
To register for updates on the new scheme or to obtain further guidance and information on who will be affected, please go to the ISA website
Press interest in this scheme has been high with many inaccurate representations of how the scheme will work in practice, and several examples of regulations being applied inappropriately. As with any new scheme there are many grey areas which will take time to be resolved. For everyone who is passionate about volunteering, there are fears that the new regulations will present unnecessary barriers to volunteering and community involvement.
Volunteering England is working alongside the Government to ensure that the new regulations do not create barriers, and guidelines specifically for volunteer-involving organisations will be released shortly. Volunteer Centres Hertfordshire will provide information as and when these guidelines are released. In the meantime it is recommended that organisations that work with children or vulnerable adults follow the links on this page and check regularly for updates.
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Independent Safeguarding Authority FAQ |  |
Press release re launch of Vetting and Barring scheme |  |
Statement on the ISA Vetting and Barring Scheme |
Hertfordshire event
At a recent roadshow run by Volunteer Centres Hertfordshire, the Communications Manager from the Vetting and Safeguarding Policy Unit at the Home Office gave a presentation on the new scheme. Please click the logo to view the presentation.
140 representatives from the voluntary and community sector in Hertfordshire attended the roadshow. The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session. For those unable to attend, the links to the presentation and to the Independent Safeguarding Authority website will be useful.
An FAQ page on the Independent Safeguarding site will provide updates as the scheme is rolled out.