Karate Issues - Independent Safeguarding Authority
The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been created to help prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.
The ISA will do this by working in partnership with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), which will gather relevant information on every person who wants to work or volunteer with vulnerable people. The ISA will assess every person who wants to work or volunteer with vulnerable people. Potential employees and volunteers will need to apply to register with the ISA. Applicants will be assessed using data gathered by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), including relevant criminal convictions, cautions, police intelligence and other appropriate sources. Using this information the ISA will decide on a case-by-case basis whether each person is suited to this work. The ISA will securely store information about people’s ISA status for employers and voluntary organisations to use when they are recruiting. Only applicants who are judged not to pose a risk to vulnerable people can be ISA-registered. Once the scheme has been fully rolled out, employers who work with vulnerable people will only be allowed to recruit people who are ISA-registered.
Following the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley (a school caretaker) in 2002, the Bichard Inquiry was commissioned. One of the issues this Inquiry looked at was the way employers recruit people to work with children and vulnerable adults. It asked whether the way employers check the background of job applicants is reliable enough. It also asked whether employers should be responsible for deciding whether a job applicant can be safely employed. The Inquiry’s recommendations led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which recognised the need for a single agency to vet all individuals who want to work or volunteer with vulnerable people. The ISA was created to fulfil this role across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (Scotland is developing its own similar system, which will work closely with the ISA.)
Because of the way the ISA has been set up, it is legally bound to operate in a certain way. The ISA will operate independently of individual government ministers, including the Secretary of State, who is currently in charge of making discretionary barring decisions. Such decisions will now be taken by its board of public appointees. As a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) it has certain statutory responsibilities and its effectiveness and efficiency are closely scrutinised by government and stakeholders. For example, it has to report annually to Parliament and all its operations – including decisions on barring – must be seen to be fair, open and transparent.
The CRB will receive applications to the ISA and will gather and monitor information. It will also use the information previously found in:
- the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoVA) list;
- the Protection of Children Act (PoCA) list; and
- List 99 (a list of people considered unsuitable for work with children, held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families).
The ISA will then assess this information and decide whether to give the individual concerned ISA registration or put them on one of the ISA Barred Lists. ISA records will be constantly updated as fresh information is gathered. If new data indicates that an individual might pose a risk to vulnerable people, they will be put on one of the ISA Barred Lists and their current employer will be informed immediately.
The ISA will be independent. Ministers will no longer be involved in making decisions on individual cases. The ISA will make all the discretionary barring decisions that are currently taken by the Secretary of State based on clear criteria and evidence. A board of public appointees and a team of highly trained case workers based in Darlington will support the ISA in its work. The ISA will also ensure that the police and other experts are represented. Whilst it is independent of any one particular government department, it is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). This means that the ISA has certain statutory responsibilities and that its performance, efficiency and effectiveness will be scrutinised closely by both government and stakeholders. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 defines the scope of the Vetting and Barring Scheme. It provides that certain activities in relation to children and vulnerable adults are regulated. This is known as 'regulated activity'.
What is regulated activity?
Regulated activity is any activity, which involves contact with children or vulnerable adults. This could be paid or voluntary work.
Such activities include:
- Any activity of a specified nature that involves contact with children or vulnerable adults frequently, intensively and/or overnight. (Such activities include teaching, training, care, supervision, advice, treatment and transportation.)
- Any activity allowing contact with children or vulnerable adults that is in a specified place frequently or intensively. (Such places include schools and care homes.)
- Fostering and childcare.
- Any activity that involves people in certain defined positions of responsibility. (Such positions include school governor, director of social services and trustee of certain charities.)
‘Regulated activity’ is when the activity is frequent (once a month or more) or ‘intensive’ (takes place on three or more days in a 30-day period).
How does ‘regulated activity’ work?
- Anyone providing a regulated activity must be registered with the ISA.
- It will be a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison, for a barred individual to take part in a regulated activity for any length of time.
- It will be a criminal offence for an employer to take on an individual in regulated activity if they fail to check that person’s status.
- It will be a criminal offence for an employer to allow a barred individual, or an individual who is not yet registered with the ISA, to work for any length of time in any regulated activity.
Employers’ duties and responsibilities
It will be a criminal offence for an employer to allow a barred person, or a person who is not yet registered with the ISA, to work for any length of time in any regulated activity.
It will be a criminal offence for an employer to take on a person in a regulated activity if they fail to check that person’s status.
Employees’ duties and responsibilities
A barred individual must not take part in any regulated activity.
An individual taking part in a regulated activity must be registered with the ISA.
It will be a criminal offence for a barred person to take part in a regulated activity for any length of time.
Making referrals
It is important for the success of the Vetting and Barring Scheme that information about individuals is shared by different organisations.
The ISA will inform professional and regulatory bodies when it bars someone so that their professional registration can also be reviewed.
One of the main barriers to a successful vetting service is the possibility that information about a person could be held by a number of different organisations, and never shared.
To ensure this does not happen to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), new legislation has been introduced which legally requires certain organisations to refer relevant information to the Authority – where there is concern relating to harm or the risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults.
Other organisations or individuals may also refer relevant information if they are concerned about the behaviour or conduct of an individual.
By receiving information from a comprehensive range of sources, the ISA will be able to make a decision as to whether an individual poses a risk to children and/or vulnerable adults based on all the evidence.
The following organisations have a legal obligation to refer relevant information to the ISA:
- adult/child protection teams in local authorities;
- professional bodies and supervisory authorities named in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act;
- employers and service providers of regulated and controlled activity; and
- personnel suppliers (for example, employment agencies, employment businesses and education institutions).
Which are the organisations that could refer information to the ISA?
The following organisations may refer relevant information to the ISA:
- all other employers of those working with children and/or vulnerable adults; and
- parents/private employers. However, their information should be referred to a statutory agency (for example, the social services or the police), who will investigate the matter and refer information to the ISA, if appropriate. (Members of the public may also refer information to the ISA in this way.)
When must information be referred to the ISA?
Employers and service providers must refer information to the ISA when they have dismissed an individual, or an individual resigns, because they harmed, or may harm, a child or vulnerable adult.
Local authorities (in their social services capacity), professional bodies and supervisory authorities
must refer information to the ISA where:
- an individual who is working closely with vulnerable groups has harmed, or may harm, a child or vulnerable adult;
- an individual who might in the future work closely with vulnerable groups has harmed, or may harm,
a child or vulnerable adult; or - they think the ISA may consider it appropriate to bar the individual.
Relevant information should be referred to the ISA as soon as it becomes available. The new scheme will only work effectively if the ISA can reduce the time between an individual becoming a known risk and that individual being barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults.
When must organisations start referring information to the ISA?
The implementation of the ISA will happen in managed phases to allow risk and cost to be spread
over time. More information will be made available soon.
How will the ISA deal with malicious allegations?
Referral information, such as allegations, will never lead to automatic inclusion in the ISA Barred Lists.
Before a barring decision is made, the individual will be given the information on which the decision is based, and will be given the opportunity to explain their case.
It is a serious offence to make a malicious referral with an intention to mislead. A person found guilty of this may be subject to defamation and damages claims. Criminal sanctions, which include offences related to wasting police time, perverting or attempting to pervert the course of justice, conspiracy and perjury, could also apply.
What happens if an employee leaves a job before they are sacked?
If the employee would or could have been sacked on grounds that could lead to barring, the employer must refer the employee to the ISA – even if the employee has stopped working for them.
One of the failings identified in the Bichard Inquiry Report was that pieces of information about an individual could be held by a number of different organisations, and never shared. Professional bodies, supervisory authorities and employers hold significant information about the people they register, regulate, inspect and employ. The ISA will work closely with these organisations to ensure that information is effectively shared and that duplication does not occur.
Is there a penalty for failing to refer relevant information?
Yes. There will be a new offence – punishable by a fine – for employers who fail to provide relevant
information to the scheme, without a reasonable excuse.
In this article the term ‘employers’ refers to both employers and managers of volunteers. The term
‘employees’ refers to both paid and unpaid (volunteer) work/activities.
This article explains the duty of referring information to the Independent Safeguarding Authority. You can read the full Act and its explanatory notes on the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk.
Employees and volunteers
The basics
You can apply for registration through your employer if you have one, or if you are applying for a job, through your prospective employer. If you are self-employed – as a childminder, for example – you will need to apply yourself. You will be able to do this through the ISA website as the ISA vetting service is phased in.
Employees
If you are already employed to work with children or vulnerable adults and have had a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, you will need to apply for ISA registration in due course. Details of how and when you should apply will become available on the ISA website.
If you are employed to work with children or vulnerable adults and have not been CRB checked you will need to apply for ISA registration as early as possible. Details of how and when to do this will become available on the ISA website.
In both cases you will need to pay a one-off fee. Once you have paid for registration the ISA will give you a personal ISA Registration Number and you remain on the ISA database even if you change employers.
Volunteers
If you work or want to work with vulnerable people you will need to apply to register with the ISA in exactly the same way as an employee. The only difference is that the ISA do not charge an application fee for volunteers.
Unsuitable people
If you have a record of unsuitability for working with vulnerable groups or if you have committed certain offences, the ISA may not be able to register you. Instead you will be put on an ISA Barred List and may not be able to work with vulnerable people.
If you apply for a job with children or vulnerable adults when you know you have been barred you could be fined or face imprisonment.
Your privacy
ISA registration does not mean that the ISA make your details available to the general public. Only employers will be able to access your information – and only after you give them your ISA Registration Number. Employers will only be able to check that you are in fact ISA-registered. Only ISA case workers and the police will have access to information the ISA hold about you.
Fees
The ISA will charge a small fee for applications to register with the ISA as an employee or self-employed worker. This fee covers ISA administration costs and you will only be asked to pay it once, no matter how many times you change jobs.
The ISA do not charge volunteers for ISA applications.
What happens next?
Make sure you know what you are expected to do as the new vetting service is introduced in managed phases.
From October 2009
Increased safeguards will be introduced, such as a wider definition of “Regulated activities”, further enhancing protection of children and vulnerable adults.
The three current barring lists (POCA, POVA and List 99) will be replaced by the creation of two new barred lists administered by the ISA rather than several government departments. Checks of these new lists can be made as part of an Enhanced CRB check.
Employers, social services and professional regulators have a duty to refer to the ISA any information about individuals who may pose a risk ensuring potential threats to vulnerable groups can be identified and dealt with.
There will be criminal penalties for barred individuals who seek or undertake work with vulnerable groups and for employers who knowingly take them on.
The eligibility criteria for Enhanced CRB checks will be extended to include anyone working in a regulated position.
From July 2010
From July 2010 those who are new to the workforce, those who are changing roles to take on regulated activity and those changing jobs whilst working in regulated activity may apply for ISA registration. Those who currently work with vulnerable groups but are staying in their current role will not have to become registered until later in the five year phasing period.
From July 2010, individuals can apply for ISA-registration and a CRB check (including an ISA check) on one new application form.
When a person becomes ISA-registered they will be continuously monitored and their status reassessed against any new information which may come to light.
From November 2010
So as not to disrupt normal recruitment over the traditionally busy summer period, the legal requirement for employees to register with the VBS and employers to check their status will come into force in November 2010.
From 2011
Existing employees and volunteers with no CRB check must apply for ISA registration.
Existing employees and volunteers with CRB checks will also need to apply for ISA registration, starting with staff whose CRB checks are the oldest.
Employers and volunteer organisations
Employers and volunteer organisations who deal with children and vulnerable adults always need to check a person’s ISA status before employing them. You cannot take their word for it and neither can you have them in post – even supervised – before you know the outcome of the check.
The basics
From 12 October additional “regulated activities” will be brought into force under the Vetting and Barring Scheme. This will significantly extend the scope of activities and workplaces covered by barring. It will be an offence for any barred person to work in regulated activities, and for any employer to employ someone he knows to be barred, either paid or voluntary.
From July 2010, when you recruit someone new to work with children or vulnerable adults you may check their ISA status. This will determine whether or not you can employ them (or take them on as volunteers), and may affect what activities they can undertake. Registration and checking registered status will become mandatory for phased-in groups from November 2010.
The ISA divide work with vulnerable groups into two categories: controlled and regulated activities. (For full definitions of these see the downloadable pdf factsheet on regulated and controlled activities.)
Regulated and Controlled Activities
Only an ISA-registered person can undertake regulated activity – it is illegal to employ an unregistered person and can result in imprisonment or a fine of up to £5000. An unregistered person means that a person has either not applied to register with the ISA or that they are on an ISA Barred List.
For controlled activity it is still mandatory to check the ISA status of an applicant before you employ them. However, you may be able to employ a barred person provided certain safeguards are in place.
For certain organisations and posts you will also need to carry out a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check on applicants.
Existing employees
You will also need to ensure that existing employees are ISA-registered.
First you should ask those who have not been previously checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to apply for ISA registration. Next you should ask those who have been CRB checked to apply, beginning with staff whose CRB checks are the oldest. The ISA will add detailed guidance on the timing of this process as the ISA vetting service is phased in.
Registering with the ISA
It is the individual applicant’s responsibility to apply to register with the ISA. If they have not applied for registration you can’t employ them. It is your responsibility to check a potential employee or volunteer’s status. If an applicant is not ISA-registered they have either not applied or are on an ISA Barred List.
You will not be charged for checking someone’s ISA status.
Once you have registered your interest in an individual as their employer, you will automatically be contacted should their status change – that is, if new information leads to an ISA decision to bar them.
Your responsibilities for referring information to us
In order to continuously monitor ISA-registered individuals, the ISA need information from employers.
Employers, professional and regulatory bodies, and child/adult protection teams in local authorities will be under a duty to refer relevant information to the ISA.
All other employers of those working with children or vulnerable adults may provide information to the ISA.
How this applies to parents
As a parent employing someone to look after your children you are not obliged to check if they are ISA-registered, but you are free to do so for the extra reassurance this can offer.
If you wish to refer information about someone to the ISA you should do this through a statutory agency such as social services or the police. They will be able to investigate the matter and refer information to the ISA if appropriate.
For more information visit the Independent Safeguarding Authority website: