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News
ISA Decision Making Since 31 March 2008, as part of transition to the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (starting October 2009), the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has advised the Secretaries of State at the Department for Children, Schools and Familes and the Department of Health on barring (List 99, PoCA, PoVA in England and Wales). In the next stage of transition, from winter 2008 (subject to Parliamentary approval), employers in England and Wales (under PoCA or PoVA), and employers in England (under List 99) must send new referrals under these schemes to the ISA, which will take the barring decisions. Where the ISA asks organisations for information on a case, they must provide it. ISA recommend organisations act by October to: cascade this message within their sector(s), so employers can prepare in time; and remind employers to fulfil existing pre-employment responsibilities, e.g. taking up references and conducting checks. The Vetting and Barring Scheme Please note that the Independent Safeguarding Authority have made a decision regarding the name of the Scheme it provides. The phrase “ISA Scheme” will no longer be used to describe the wider scheme for which the ISA provides the decision making capacity. This registering and monitoring scheme will now be referred to as “The Vetting and Barring Scheme” (VBS). Independent Safeguarding Authority or ISA will still be used in specific reference to the decision making body only. “ Volunteer & Community Justice Awards North Wales Criminal Justice Board in partnership with Barclays Bank and supported by WCVA and the High Sheriff's of Gwynedd and Clwyd is pleased to announce the launch of the fourth annual 'Volunteer & Community Justice Awards 2008'. Cabinet Office Guidance
The Cabinet Office has today published guidance to help organisations to decide when CRB checks should and should not be carried out on volunteers. This guidance will help cut unnecessary red tape and responds to concerns voiced by the voluntary sector that potential volunteers can be put off if they are asked to undergo a CRB check without good reason. Please click on the link to read the document in full. ISA Consultation The Government has published its formal reponse to the recent consultation on the ISA Scheme. Please click on the link to read the document in full.
ISA Board Members Announced
The appointment of the Independent Safeguarding Authority's ten board members, who will oversee the delivery of a new vetting and barring process, was announced on 16 May 2008. Members of the board have been chosen for their wide-ranging expertise in work with vulnerable people and those who abuse them. ISA chairman Sir Roger Singleton said: “I am delighted to announce that the Board of the Independent Safeguarding Authority is now in place. This is an important milestone towards improving the safety of the most vulnerable people in our society. “I am looking forward to working alongside such a wealth of experience to ensure that those who are judged to pose a risk to children and vulnerable adults are barred from working with them. Four voluntary sector leaders are among the 10 board members appointed. The four are: Moira Murray, child protection expert at the Children's Society; Donald Findlater, director of research and development at child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation; Debbie Ariyo, founder and executive director of Africans Unite against Child Abuse; and Dr John Belcher, chief executive of not-for-profit at older people's care housing and support provider the Anchor Trust. The other board members are Dr Valerie Brasse, Adviser to the Cumberlege Comission, established by the Catholic Church in England and Wales to review the church's safeguarding arrangements for children and vulnerable adults; social care adviser to the Victoria Climbié child abuse inquiry, led child protection policy development and implementation, including implementing parts of the Children Act 1989; Richard Black OBE, who has had a career in social services; Tom Davies, Commissioner for the Independent Police Commission, with responsibility for Wales; Professor Don Grubin Professor of psychiatry at Newcastle University and consultant forensic psychiatrist in the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust; Mehmuda Mian Pritchard Commissioner at the Independent Police Complaints Commission; and Peter Withers Board member, Tayside Health Board and Risk Management Authority, executive vice chairman (resources) for the Civil Service Sports Council. The ISA board will be starting work to define the criteria for barring individuals in preparation for when the full scheme goes live October 2009. ISA will provide employers with the most comprehensive vetting service on offer anywhere in the world and it is expected that under the ISA scheme approximately 11.3 million employees and volunteers will be registered once the scheme is fully implemented. ISA go-live date
On 1 April 2008 the Home Office announced that from 12 October 2009 individuals will need to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) if they are to work or volunteer with children and/or vulnerable adults in a regulated activity. The new 'go live' stage will be the official start date of the scheme, although preparatory work and advice and guidance will have been undertaken and completed by this stage. After this date all new workers or those changing jobs (in regulated activity) will be required to register with the ISA Scheme. Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said: 'The Independent Safeguarding Authority is at the heart of the Government's drive to increase the protection of vulnerable members of our society. The mandatory scheme aims to prevent those who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults from gaining access to them through their work'. For the latest information concerning ISA please visit the ISA's website http://www.isa-gov.org/ where you can register to receive regular updates. ISA Registration Cost It has been announced that the overall cost for registering with ISA will be £64 per person. The fee will consist of two components: an ISA registration fee of £28 and a CRB enhanced disclosure, currently £36, which provides employers with details of information held on police records about potential staff members. However, there will be no cost for volunteers. It is important to note that a CRB enhanced disclosure will still cost £36.
CRB Price Freeze Fees for criminal record checks have been frozen for the second year running. The CRB has been able to freeze its fees as a direct result of year-on-year efficiency savings and increasing demand for its service.
New Independent Safeguarding Authority website The overriding aim of the Independent Safeguarding Authority will be to prevent those who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults from gaining access to them through their work. It will do this by taking all discretionary decisions as to those individuals who should be placed on the new barred lists. Resounding thumbs up by volunteers in trial of new process In line with recommendations from the Bichard Report, the CRB is examining the security benefits that ID cards may bring. In a joint trial with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), 160 volunteers piloted two online services aimed at accelerating and 'toughening-up' background checks on people who want to work with children and vulnerable adults. The first is a short-term process using UK passports, the second a longer-term process using ID Cards under the National Identity Scheme. The report for this trial reveals that the overwhelming majority of trial participants back the new services, with 96% saying the passport-linked service is an improvement on current arrangements, and 87% saying that the ID card-linked service would be even stronger. These trials took place in June and WCVA Criminal Records Unit would like to thank its registered organisations that volunteered their time to take part in this trial. All the volunteers went through a simulated experience of applying for a position requiring a CRB check including meeting their prospective employer, filling out the CRB Disclosure Application form, having their identity authenticated by a counter-signatory and receiving their Disclosure. Each volunteer completed two circuits; one using a passport and one using an ID card which enabled experience of both proposed processes to derive comparisons. These documents are available in pdf format on the Resources page.
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