What vetting and barring means to you

More about vetting and barring 

Vetting and Barring Scheme registration halted

The Home Office has announced that registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) will be halted to allow the government to remodel the scheme. Registration, which was due to start on 26 July, has now been stopped.

Although registration has been halted whilst the Government undertakes its review, existing arrangements under the VBS will continue.

Up-to-date information is available to businesses, other organisations and individuals on the DirectGov Website  or on the Businesslink Website  VBS sections.

Why these changes are happening

An inquiry into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham in 2002 highlighted the need for an improved safeguarding system that employers could use to improve the safety of children and vulnerable adults in the workplace.

From November 2010, a new law comes into effect requiring the registration of all those who work or volunteer to work with children. The new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) will be run by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) which will work alongside the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to strengthen current employee vetting systems. The new scheme will help identify those who are unsuitable to work with children and vulnerable adults and bar them from gaining access to them through their work or voluntary activity.

This means you will need to be ISA-registered before applying for a paid or voluntary position.

After Soham, the Bichard Inquiry recommended a new scheme that would ensure that everyone working with children under 18 or vulnerable adults who is involved in regulated activity and/or works in a specified place is checked and registered. The Bichard Inquiry led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA) and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 (SGVO), which provide for the establishment of the scheme. The scheme has been developed by the Home Office in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. A separate scheme will cover Scotland.

What's happening

The Vetting and Baring Scheme (VBS) began its roll out on 12 October 2009.  This means that the current "barred lists" - List 99, the Protection of Children's Act List, the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List in England and Wales as well as the current system of disqualification orders which is operated by the criminal justice system - will cease to exist and be replaced by two new lists, the Children's Barred List and the Adults' Barred List.

These two new lists will contain details of individuals deemed unsuitable to work with the vulnerable group concerned and who are therefore prevented from working or volunteering with that group. The new lists bar people from a wider range of jobs and activities than before. The lists will be maintained by a single independent agency which will vet and register all individuals who want to work or volunteer with the vulnerable groups.

Who will run the scheme

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been set up to run the scheme. The ISA's role is to make decisions regarding who should be barred from working with children by gathering information from key partners such as the police, local authorities and employers. For more information on the ISA please go to the ISA website www.isa-gov.org.uk

The ISA works alongside the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) which provides organisations in England with access to criminal records and other relevant information. The CRB checks help organisations make more informed decisions when recruiting people to work with children.

The existing CRB checking schemes will continue alongside the new ISA registration process. From July 2010 you will be able to use new CRB application forms to apply for ISA registration and CRB checks at the same time. Once a person is ISA-registered, the CRB will monitor that person's criminal record for changes or new information and, if necessary, the ISA can reconsider that person's ISA-registration status. If an ISA-registration is revoked, the CRB will immediately notify interested employers that the person is no longer registered. For more information on the CRB please go to the CRB website www.crb.gov.uk

Who the scheme will cover

The VBS covers anyone over 16 who wants to work or volunteer with children - even if they are only doing so for one day a month - in a position of care or instruction. This is known as regulated activity. However, in certain specified settings such as schools and care homes, most roles are regarded as regulated activity and those staff must be ISA-registered. Specified places include schools, childcare premises (eg nurseries, residential homes for children in care, children's hospitals) and children's detention centres.

Barred people may be able to work in some ancillary roles, regarded as controlled activity, but must also be ISA-registered by 2015. Controlled activity covers frequent or intensive support work in settings or for specified organisations that allow frequent access to sensitive records about children.

You still need to recruit safely

While the VBS will provide significant safeguards, it is important to remember that is part of a wider framework of safe recruitment practices. In particular, it does not replace CRB checks, which may still be necessary. It does not remove the need for employers to develop and apply vigilantly robust recruitment procedures, including checking ID, qualifications and references. You still need to maintain good safer recruitment practice. CWDC guidance on safer recruitment is available on our safeguarding pages.

What the scheme involves

ISA registration
ISA-registered means that no information is held that demonstrates the person poses a risk of harm to children. A person's registration status is continuously monitored and if any new information such as a relevant caution or conviction, or information from employers comes to light, the ISA is informed. The ISA will re-assess the person's potential risk and it may chose to bar the individual. If you are barred you are automatically prevented from working with children in regulated activity.

Regulated activity
The VBS covers anyone working or volunteering in regulated activity once a month or more on a regular basis, for three days or more in a single 30-day period, or overnight. Regulated activity can include any of the following:

• Care or supervision of children, eg in nurseries
• Providing advice or guidance for children, eg in residential homes for children in care
• Any form of health or social care treatment or therapy, eg children's hospitals
• Driving a vehicle which is being used for the specific purpose of conveying children, eg to activity classes
• Teaching, training or instruction eg in children's detention centres

The VBS does not apply to activities carried out in the course of family or personal relationships, provided there is no commercial consideration.

Example: The VBS will not apply to you if you are looking after a friend's child (as long as you are not being paid), or if you are watching the school play or football team. In addition, it will not apply when visiting a child in a children's ward as these do not count as activities being carried out for the establishment.

Frequency
ISA registration is not needed when activity is infrequent or on an occasional basis. However, if an activity provides an opportunity for a person to develop a relationship of trust with children it will be a regulated activity.

Occasional work in any of the roles or specified places covered by VBS will count as regulated activity if it is done once a month or more (frequently) or three times or more in a single 30-day period (intensively). More guidance on defining frequently and intensively is on the ISA website. www.isa-gov.uk

Barred people are prevented from engaging in regulated activity irrespective of how infrequently the activity is carried out. A barred person must not seek to engage in regulated activity even as a one-off.

Example: A parent has agreed to help out with supervision at a Scout group session, without committing to being a regular helper. This is not regulated activity, and will not become so until the parent helps out at a third session in a period of less than three months.

Controlled activity
The VBS also covers a special category of work called controlled activity. Employers can employ someone barred from regulated activity to carry out controlled activity, provided they put in place specific safeguards. These safeguards must be in place by July 2014. Controlled activity will include:

• Frequent or intensive ancillary support work in general health settings.
• People working for specified organisations with frequent access to sensitive records about children.

Example: An administrative assistant works in the children's services department of a local authority. She is responsible for filing records that contain information about children who are looked after by the local authority and works with these records every day. As such, she is carrying out controlled activity.

Applications for registration for controlled activity will be handled from 2014. From 2015 employers will be allowed to decide whether to employ someone barred from working with children in a controlled activity. It will be a criminal offence to do so without carrying out a risk assessment and putting appropriate safeguards in place.

From April 2010, it will be possible to apply for "enhanced" CRB disclosures on barred people in controlled activity. This will not apply to people who are not barred. A mechanism is being developed for checking the status of workers in controlled activity.

Specified places
The VBS covers people working or volunteering in the following settings, known as specified places:

• Childcare premises, including nurseries
• Residential homes for children in care
• Children's hospitals
• Youth settings
• Play settings
• Social workers in schools
• Youth groups in faith settings

This may include catering, cleaning, administrative and maintenance workers or contractors and their managers or supervisors.

How the scheme impacts you 

Regulated activity

• New starts: from 1 November, 2010, no-one can begin regulated activity unless they are ISA-registered. It becomes a criminal offence from that date.
• Existing staff and volunteers: once the requirement for employees and volunteers to be ISA-registered has been phased into your workplace, it will be an offence to engage in regulated activity without being ISA-registered. This phasing-in process will be between February 2011 and July 2015.

 Controlled activity

• ISA registration will be extended to controlled activity in July 2014. Further guidance will be published in due course.

If you are an employer or volunteer organisation

A regulated activity provider (RAP) is an employer of someone in regulated activity, or a provider or organiser of voluntary regulated activity. As a RAP, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that everyone aged over 16 working or volunteering for you in regulated activity complies with the VBS. You must check they are registered with the ISA and not barred from working with children. Failure to do so will carry serious legal penalties and fines of up to £5,000.

Checking ISA registration status should form part of your recruitment process. However, you still need to maintain your other good safer recruitment practices. CWDC guidance on safer recruitment is available at www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/safeguarding

You are expected help your employees and volunteers with their ISA registration. You may choose to pay the registration fee on behalf of your employees. Volunteers are not charged for registration.

The checking process
The procedure for processing checks will be the same as that currently used for "enhanced" CRB checks and will take roughly the same time. From 26 July, 2010, you must apply for CRB checks and/or ISA registration on the new CRB application form.

The ISA-online service lets you check the ISA registration status of employees, potential employees and volunteers. By carrying out an online check, you will be fulfilling your legal responsibilities. You can access ISA-online from the CRB website www.crb.gov.uk and the ISA website www.isa-gov.uk

Information sharing
From 12 October, 2009, you must tell the ISA about any misconduct of registered individuals. If someone working or volunteering is dismissed or leaves while under investigation for an allegation of causing harm or posing a risk of harm, you are legally obliged to refer this information to the ISA.

You may also refer individuals where you are concerned about their conduct and think the ISA ought to be made aware of it. The duty to refer information applies to having knowledge about the individual, rather than proof, such as a criminal conviction. Failure to provide information to the ISA is a criminal offence and can result in a fine.

Parents as employers
A parent making a private contract with a self-employed worker (eg a piano teacher or a babysitter) is not a RAP. Therefore the person they take on is not required to be ISA registered. If a parent employs a self-employed person as a sub-contractor from a RAP, the parent may ask for confirmation from the RAP that the worker is ISA registered. In some cases, the worker may be able to certify that a national governing or licensing body has endorsed them (eg the Football Association in the case of football coaches). Alternatively, a parent may carry out an online status check on the ISA website. The worker does not have to be ISA registered, but will commit an offence if they seek to carry out such work while barred.

If you are an employee or volunteer

As an employee or a volunteer aged over 16, engaged in regulated activities you will have a legal responsibility to be ISA-registered and not barred from working with children. From 1 November, 2010 if you are starting a new role (including moving from a role in a regulated activity) you must be ISA-registered. If you are already carrying out regulated activity, you will need to register with the ISA when the VBS is phased into your own industry or workplace. This phasing-in process will be between February 2011 and July 2015.

You will be able to apply for your ISA-registration at the same time as your CRB check. From June 2010 one form - which covers both applications - will be available from organisations registered with the CRB, including employers and volunteer organisations. Employees must pay the administration fee of £64 (although employers may choose to pay this for you). Volunteers are not charged for registration.

Once registered you will receive a unique ID number. You should expect an employer to check your ISA registration status as part of the recruitment process. Your employer will be informed of any subsequent changes to your ISA status.

All information held by the ISA about individual applications and cases will be secure. Prospective employers can only check registration status if they have your explicit consent, along with your ID number and other personal data.

Failure to comply with the VBS carries serious legal penalties. If you are barred from working with a vulnerable group, you cannot be ISA-registered and must not engage in regulated activity with that vulnerable group. If you do, you will be committing a serious offence.

Self-employed and contractors
You can join the VBS if you are self-employed and work in a position covered by the scheme. You must register if your work involves regulated activity and/or you are under contract to a RAP. Even if you are not legally required to join the scheme, you may find either that your customers ask you to register or that registering helps you provide reassurance to the people you work for and with.

The application process
The CRB will search police databases for information relevant to working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults. It will also check whether previous employers have reported any serious concerns about you. Where relevant information is found, it will be passed to the ISA to consider.

The ISA will look at information relating to both working or volunteering with children and vulnerable adults, even if your application only relates to one of these areas. If you are barred from working or volunteering with one of these groups, it will be a criminal offence for you to work or volunteer with that group in regulated activity.

Example: A volunteer with children in a charity is registered with the VBS. The ISA is sent information about her recent conviction for assaulting a child. The ISA considers the new information, along with the information it previously had, and decides to bar her. The charity is informed and the volunteer may no longer work or volunteer with children.

For more information on the checking process, go to the ISA website and the CRB website.