Vetting schemes latest
Employment Law & HR update 03/08/2011
If you employ staff in the care or education sectors, or if you
are a contractor working on school or care premises, you probably
already know about the need for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)
checks. But the recent introduction of the Vetting and
Barring Scheme in England and Wales and the Check to Protect Scheme
in Scotland may have left you feeling confused about what the exact
requirements are. Here's a quick update.
England and Wales – the Vetting and
Barring Scheme
The Vetting and Barring scheme was introduced following the
Soham murders. It involved an additional layer of checks over
and above Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks for those working
with children or vulnerable adults. Computer problems meant
that the online database at the heart of the scheme was repeatedly
delayed and has still not been implemented. In addition, the
sheer number of people potentially captured by the scheme –
estimates were upwards of 11 million people at one point – made
many people uneasy. The Scheme would also have required many
employees and tradespeople who only had occasional contact with
children to register on the central ISA database and be subject to
continuous monitoring.
Following the 2010 election, the new Coalition government
promised to scale the scheme back to what it called "common sense
levels". The new proposals are contained in the Protection of
Freedoms Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament.
The result is a scheme that is being comprehensively remodelled and
will mean scrapping the database associated with the Vetting and
Barring Scheme.
The proposals apply to England and Wales only. The
Scottish Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme exists under
separate legislation and is not affected (see details below).
The Proposals
- Scrapping ISA-registration and continuous monitoring of
individuals and the separate ISA database
- Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks will continue to be
available and to be necessary for most workers in the care and
education sectors
- CRB checks will be made portable between different employers
and updatable
- The definition of "regulated activities" involving either
children or vulnerable adults will be changed to reduce the number
of jobs and voluntary posts covered.
- Occasional visitors to schools or care premises (such as
tradespeople), and volunteers who are subject to "day to day
supervision" will no longer count as doing "regulated
activities"
- Work involving personal care will automatically be a "regulated
activity"
- To make the system self-funding, the cost of CRB checks will
increase
Practical impact for employers
The new rules will give employers involved in care or education
a greater burden to assess the risks associated with certain job
roles within their organisation and to vet their employees in a
proportionate way. The proposals make it clear that employers
cannot rely on the State to provide absolute safeguards.
There will also be additional costs – CRB checks will increase
in price, and "updatable" checks will involve additional
charges.
For SMEs whose business is not care or education – but whose
activities might involve visiting care or school premises – there
is better news. The biggest impact to these employers will be
that workers and tradespeople will no longer need to be registered
or checked just because they occasionally visit care or school
premises.
The current legal position
Because new legislation is required to make the changes, the
proposals will not come into effect until April 2012 at the
earliest, and employers should follow the existing rules in the
meantime. This means that an Enhanced CRB Disclosure should
be obtained for new entrants to "regulated activities". All
existing offences remain in place until the law is changed.
Scotland– PVG / "Check to Protect"
Scheme
The Scottish PVG / "Check to Protect" Scheme came into force at
the end of February 2011.
The Scottish scheme effectively provides for a "live" Disclosure
to people who apply for "PVG Scheme Membership" (and so replaces
the Enhanced Disclosure for these roles).
Who does the Scheme apply to?
The PVG Scheme applies to people who do "regulated work".
"Regulated work" includes work in child education or in child or
adult care, and other activities on school and care premises that
might involve the opportunity for unsupervised contact with
children or adult service users.
"Work" involves both paid and unpaid work and it need not be the
person's normal contractual job.
Therefore, tradespeople visiting school and care premises are
doing "regulated work" if the work is part of their normal duties
and if they are likely to come into unsupervised contact with
children or service users.
Who needs to register?
Initially, only new entrants to "regulated work" from
28th February are required to become PVG Scheme
members.
This will be done in the same way as applying for an Enhanced
Disclosure, and the result will take the place of an Enhanced
Disclosure.
Existing employees doing "regulated work"
Disclosure Scotland has stated that it is not legally necessary
for employees who were already in "regulated work" roles before
28th February 2011 to apply for PVG Scheme membership
until they are required to do so under the transitional
provisions. Details of the transitional arrangements are yet
to be announced but they will not commence until 2012 at the
earliest. In the meantime, applications by such persons will
be declined by Disclosure Scotland.
What about updating existing CRB checks?
Employers may have procedures in place for existing employees to
obtain updated Disclosure Scotland checks after a certain period,
which in many cases is every 3 years. Disclosure Scotland
state that they will not process these checks unless there are
exceptional circumstances. Again, new checks can only be made
when the transitional provisions are in place. Disclosure
Scotland point out that an employer only commits an offence if it
recruits a barred person into regulated work.
If you would like further information, and already
subscribe to RBS/NatWestMentor, please
call the Advice
Service. If you would like more information on
how Mentor could help your business in situations like this and
many others, contact
us today for information.
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