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On 15 June 2010 the Government announced that the introduction of the new Vetting and Barring scheme, for people seeking to work with children and/or vulnerable adults has been suspended, subject to a comprehensive review. ISA registration for new applicants was due to start on 26 July 2010. The information below predates this decision and will be amended shortly.
For further information see: Vetting and Barring Scheme registration halted (Home Office press release, 15 June 2010)
The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was established by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (SVG) Act 2006 to make decisions about whether an individual is suitable to work with children.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
The role of ISA
Timeline: key dates and facts
Cost of ISA registration
How will this help safe recruitment?
Further information and links to organisations
In 2006, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (SVG) Act1 was passed by the UK Parliament to help enhance vetting standards across organisations that provide services to vulnerable people.
This was in direct response to Recommendation 19 of the Bichard Inquiry 20042 , following the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley in 2002. This recommendation stated that:
"New arrangements should be introduced requiring those who wish to work with children, or vulnerable adults, to be registered. This register...would confirm that there is no known reason why an individual should not work with these client groups."(p 15).
The SVG Act (2006) made it an offence for an employer to employ someone in a regulated position if they are barred from doing so – ‘barred’ people can be employed in certain ‘controlled positions’ only if additional safeguards are put in place.
The Act contains definitions of which positions are regulated in terms of work with children; the complete text can be accessed on the ISA website.
It also imposed the legal requirement on employers to refer to the scheme employees or volunteers who (may) have harmed children while working for them, and made it an offence for an individual who has been barred to apply for a regulated position.
UK Coverage
The SVG Act (2006) covers England and Wales, but the same powers are exercised in Northern Ireland through the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007. Scotland is developing its own similar system, which will work closely with the ISA.
References
1. Great Britain, laws and statutes (2006) Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006: chapter 47. London, The Stationery Office (TSO).
2. Bichard, Sir Michael (2004) The Bichard Inquiry report. London, The Stationery Office (TSO).
The SVG Act (2006) established a new agency, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), to take barring decisions on individuals who are unsuitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable people.
The ISA oversees the new Vetting and Barring Scheme established by the Act, and in particular the new continuous monitoring scheme. The ISA will consider a wide variety of information that can come from a variety of sources: police, social services, organisations, professional bodies etc. The nature of this information may be outcomes of disciplinary, allegations, complaints investigations, as well as criminal investigations.
The ISA works closely with CRB and Access NI, who maintain two barring lists: the Children’s Barred List and Vulnerable Adults Barred List. These lists include the names of those individuals who are barred from working with either or both vulnerable groups, who cannot register with the Scheme, and are therefore not allowed to work with children or vulnerable adults.
The ISA Barred Lists replaces the previous List 99; The Protection of Children Act List (POCA); and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults Act List (POVA). Government ministers are no longer involved in making decisions on individual cases.
From 20 January 2009
Referrals on individuals working with children must be made to the ISA, not to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
From 12 October 2009
Regulated activity providers (those who employ people to work with children and/or vulnerable adults), personnel suppliers (recruitment agencies), local authorities, schools and other relevant agencies will have a duty to refer information to the ISA about individuals that present or may present a risk of harm to a child.
Agencies should draw up an in-house procedure covering the circumstances in which a referral should be made and how. This should include timescales; who will be in charge of making referrals; and how the information will be used and stored.
From April 2010
New CRB forms are distributed to registered and umbrella bodies. Individuals can now apply for ISA-registration and a CRB check (including an ISA check) on one application form.
From May 2010
New Access NI application forms available online.
From 28 June 2010
The CRB starts to accept new CRB application forms. Forms are manually checked for errors and returned if completed incorrectly. Correctly completed forms are held unprocessed until 26 July 2010.
From 9 July 2010
Access NI withdraws old application form from website.
From 12 July 2010
Orders for current CRB disclosure application forms are no longer accepted. Access NI accepts new disclosure application forms but will not yet process them. Access NI will no longer accept old application forms.
From 21 July 2010
The CRB telephone application channel closes.
From 26 July 2010
New job applicants seeking employment or volunteering roles working with children and/or vulnerable adults are legally required to apply for the ISA registration (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
CRB and Access NI start to process new applications made on the new CRB/Access NI application forms and those accepted in the previous four weeks (two weeks for Northern Ireland) in order of date received.
Old disclosure application forms are no longer accepted by the CRB. The CRB telephone application channel reopens.
From November 2010
New job applicants seeking employment or volunteering roles working with children and/or vulnerable adults must be registered before starting work. Employers must check if an applicant is registered. If an applicant is not registered, they cannot commence work .
Employers should ensure that they have identified which roles in their employ they must register. They must ensure that their recruitment information is updated to include the requirement for ISA registration and draw up a procedure that covers how this information will be used, stored, and who will be responsible for checking it, as well as requesting the ISA registration.
From April 2011
All existing employees and volunteers will be legally required to register. Existing workforce registration will be phased in over a period of five years. Employees and volunteers who have already been CRB-checked will now also need to apply for ISA registration, starting with staff whose CRB checks are the oldest.
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Access Northern Ireland (ANI) will perform an administrative function of the ISA and will remain the main body for checking individuals' criminal records.
Individuals in paid employment will pay £64 in England and Wales and £58 in Northern Ireland when applying for registration with the Scheme. The one-off application fee is composed of two elements: £28 to fund the running of the ISA and £36 or £30 to pay for CRB and Access NI administration respectively. Only those involved in unpaid voluntary activity will be exempt from paying an application fee.
It is a one-off cost, as once an individual is in the scheme any subsequent employers can carry out a free check of an individual's registered status. The ISA will provide continuous monitoring of workers which means the ISA registration can be for life. However, some posts will still require a new CRB check each time an individual changes jobs.
The ISA will have a duty to notify the employer if an individual deregisters from the scheme or if their status changes, i.e. if an individual becomes barred.
Once the scheme has been fully rolled out, it will be a criminal offence to allow someone to start work with children or vulnerable adults if they are barred or not registered with the Scheme.
However, the ISA check will only confirm whether an individual is registered: it will not give details of any previous criminal convictions that may be relevant to the position applied for if those convictions did not lead to that individual being barred.
The ISA is therefore not a one-stop shop for vetting people. Organisations need to ensure that their safer recruitment policies and practices are as robust as they can be, part of which will be using the ISA.
General queries about ISA: 0300 123 1111
Referral address: Independent Safeguarding Authority, PO Box 181, DARLINGTON DL1 9FA.
Independent Safeguarding Authority
CRB (England and Wales)
AccessNI (Northern Ireland)
Disclosure Scotland (Scotland)
Every Child Matters - Vetting and Barring Scheme
The ISA has created a series of factsheets to explain in detail why it was set up and how it works.
This page was last updated on 17 June 2010
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