vetting and barring scheme registration halted
The Government has announced that it is halting the planned
registration of employees and volunteers under the vetting and
barring scheme introduced by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
2006. In October last year we reported on the scheme which, amongst
other obligations, requires employees and volunteers to be
registered with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) in
connection with "regulated" and "controlled" activities with
children and vulnerable adults. The Act is being implemented in
phases. Voluntary registration was due to begin on 26 July 2010 and
compulsory registration from November 2010, starting with new
appointments. It is the voluntary registration which is being
halted while government departments review the scheme amid concerns
that it is disproportionate and overly burdensome.
However, other provisions already in place are not affected. A
wider range of people and activities are caught under the new
regime – please see our
client information sheet for further details. Since October
2009, the Act makes it an offence to permit a barred person to
carry out these activities, and introduces a duty on employers and
personnel suppliers to refer certain information to the ISA when a
person stops carrying out such activities because they have:
- harmed or may harm a child or vulnerable adult,
- engaged in "relevant conduct", or
- committed certain barring offences.
These provisions remain effective. The criminal offences
relating to engaging non ISA-registered workers and failing to make
registration checks will be postponed pending the review.
