The government has announced that new employees and job-movers working or volunteering with children and vulnerable adults will not have to register under the Vetting and Barring Scheme. This was due to start on 26 July but registration has now been stopped.

The Home Office along with the departments of health and education are currently reviewing the scheme and will announce their findings shortly.

However, the following legal provisions which came into effect in October last year, still apply:

  • two new lists (one for anyone barred from working with children and one for anyone barred from working will vulnerable adults) will continue to be administered by the Independent Safeguarding Authority replacing the three previous barring lists (POVA, POCA and List 99).
  • additional jobs and voluntary positions are still covered by the barring arrangements, including moderators of children's internet chat rooms, and a large number of NHS staff
  • employers, local authorities, professional regulators and inspection bodies have a duty to refer to the ISA any information on an individual working with the vulnerable where they consider them to have caused harm or pose a risk.
  • it is a criminal offence for barred individuals to apply to work with children or vulnerable adults in an extended range of posts. Employers also face criminal sanctions for knowingly employing a barred individual across this wider range of work

 

The Vetting and Barring Scheme aims to protect children and vulnerable adults by stopping those who pose a known risk from working with them.

It was designed as a response to the Bichard Inquiry into the Soham murders by Ian Huntley which called for better information sharing by police and vetting organisations.

For more information, go to: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk