Information about Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) Registration
July 2010
- Introduction and background
- VBS and ISA Registration halted
- Parts of the Scheme that remain in place
- Definitions
- Impact on CRB Enhanced Disclosure application process
- Resources and Contacts
- Applying for a CRB Disclosure through Foundation for Community Dance
1. Introduction and background
The Foundation for Community Dance is a Registered Body and Umbrella Body, and has been processing/counter-signing Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosures for Members of FCD since 2002
Changes to the law were introduced in October 2009 that directly impact on safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults. The purpose of this information sheet is to provide an overview of the new rules.
We recommend that visitors to this page take some time to read through the information and guidance offered familiarising themselves with changes to the law, and definitions used.
This information relates to law in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and is provided with the usual proviso: that each situation is different, therefore the information we offer is for guidance only and should not be seen as a definitive legal or child protection advice. Information about seeking further advice and clarification is included in the ‘resources’ sections below.
2. VBS (Vetting and Barring Scheme) and ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) registration halted
The Vetting & Barring Scheme (VBS) was designed to protect children and vulnerable adults by preventing those who pose a known risk from gaining access to them through their work or volunteering. Voluntary registration with the Scheme was due to start on 26 July 2010 and was being limited to new employees and job-movers working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults.
The ISA registration stage of the Vetting and Barring Scheme has now been halted to allow the new Government to conduct a remodeling of the scheme. The Home Secretary, Theresa May issued a statement to the House of Commons on 15 June 2010, which confirms the stated intention of the coalition Government to review the Vetting & Barring Scheme regimes to ensure that they are scaled back. The process for remodeling the Scheme is currently being finalised. Further details will be announced within due course.
No one can register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority until further notice from the Government.
However, there are some aspects of the scheme that you will need to be aware of and understand. The following information offers guidance on the changes to the law that are still relevant.
3. Parts of the scheme that remain in place
Increased safeguards were introduced under the Vetting and Barring Scheme, from October 12 2009. The following important issues are still in force:
It became a criminal offence for barred individuals or apply to work with children or vulnerable adults if that work is of a frequent or intense nature. This was termed by the government as ‘Regulated Activity’ (see Definitions)
It also became an offence for employers of paid and voluntary staff to knowingly permit barred individuals to engage in Regulated Activity. Employers also face criminal sanctions for knowingly employing a barred individual across a wider range of work (Regulated Activity)
Two new lists of barred individuals were created by the ISA to replace the former POCA, POVA and List 99. They comprise those barred from working with children and those barred from working with vulnerable adults
- Where people are working with children or vulnerable adults and require CRB disclosure, this must be “Enhanced”. Standard Disclosures cannot be used for this work
- Employers, local authorities, professional regulators and other bodies have a duty to refer to the ISA, information about individuals working with children or vulnerable adults where they consider them to have caused harm or pose a risk of harm. Referral forms and referral guidance are available on the ISA website.
Organisations that engage individuals to work in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults should continue to use their existing safeguarding practices, including the use of CRB Enhanced Disclosures where these are required by law or regarded as appropriate by employers.
If you are an employer you will need to ensure you understand your current responsibilities, which may include:
- Understanding what 'regulated activity' is
- Understanding who is a 'regulated activity provider'
- Understanding the duty to refer a person to ISA
- Ensuring you are clear who is responsible for making referrals in your organisation
- Waiting for further updates on the scope of the review and if/when people need to register.
4. Definitions
A CHILD is defined in law as being a person under the age of 18.
A VULNERABLE ADULT is defined as being a person who is aged 18 years or older and:
- is living in residential accommodation, such as a care home or a residential special school
- is living in sheltered housing
- is receiving domiciliary care in his or her own home
- is receiving any form of health care
- is detained in a prison, remand centre, young offender institution, secure training centre or attendance centre or under the powers of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- is in contact with probation services
- is receiving a welfare service of a description to be prescribed in regulations
- is receiving a service or participating in an activity which is specifically targeted at people with age-related needs, disabilities or prescribed physical or mental health conditions or expectant or nursing mothers living in residential care (age-related needs includes needs associated with frailty, illness, disability or mental capacity)
- is receiving direct payments from a local authority/HSS body in lieu of social care services;
- requires assistance in the conduct of his or her own affairs.
REGULATED ACTIVITY is activity undertaken within a specified place, where there is opportunity for contact with children and/or vulnerable adults on a frequent or intensive basis. Regulated Activity also includes roles that involve managing, on a regular basis, the day-to-day work of those carrying out activities of a specified nature. The table below is intended to be a quick reference to the definitions of ‘Regulated Activity’. The examples are not exhaustive, and you should refer to the Independent Safeguarding Authority for further guidance.
| REGULATED ACTIVITY | Regulated Activity is any activity involving contact with children or vulnerable adults, and is: of a specified nature or in a specified place taking place on a frequent, intensive or overnight basis (between 2am-6am) |
|
SPECIFIED NATURE Type of activity with children or vulnerable adults. Examples include: | Teaching, training, instruction, care, transport, supervision; providing advice relating to physical, emotional or educational well-being; Any form of treatment or therapy, fostering, childcare; Specified role: People working in positions of responsibility i.e. school governor, children’s charity trustee |
|
SPECIFIED PLACE Examples include: | Schools, residential homes, adult care homes, hospitals, juvenile detention facilities, theatres, arts centres |
|
FREQUENT |
Frequent - once a week or more or Intensive - on four days or more in a single month |
CONTROLLED ACTIVITY is frequent or intensive support work in general health settings, the NHS and further education. The specified nature of the work would include: cleaners, caretakers, catering staff and receptionists. It will also include individuals working for specified organisations i.e. local authority, where they will have frequent access to sensitive records about children and/or vulnerable adults. It is unlikely that many individuals working in community dance will fall into this category of work. Nonetheless, it is the Foundation for Community Dances’ advice that you should carefully review your procedures for dealing with personal information; in particular, how you take, store or pass on personal mobile numbers or personal email addresses of members of vulnerable groups. This extends to Internet social networking sites and you should take time to think about how you will require your employees, regular or freelance, to act and how it will be monitored.
It is important to note that at present, the whole area of Controlled Activity is being reviewed. As and when there are changes, FCD will pass on that further information to you via a revised webpage and information sheet.
5. Impact on CRB Enhanced Disclosure application process
Existing CRB Enhanced Disclosure requirements and eligibility criteria will remain the same.
A new CRB Enhanced Disclosure form will be launched on 26 July 2010. It contains sections relating to the ISA that will no longer be applicable. However, if applying through the Foundation for Community Dance for a CRB Enhanced Disclosure, comprehensive guidelines are issued with each application.
CRB eligibility criteria includes:
- Individuals who will be undertaking work that is unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults
- People who supervise the work of individuals who have contact with children or who make decisions on who will carry out that work
- People who, by virtue of their position, would be expected to be suitable to work with children (eg, Trustees of a Children’s charity), record keepers or anyone who regularly has access to the whereabouts of children, or who holds their personal details.
6. Resources and contacts
Foundation for Community Dance
Contact: Shelley Trevelyan, Membership Services Coordinator
Tel: 0116 253 34 53 between 10am - 6pm.
Email: shelley@communitydance.org.uk
Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)
Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS)
You can contact the Vetting and Barring Scheme Contact Centre through the ISA. Please call their team on 0300 123 1111. Operators staffing this Lo-call service will be available to answer your queries Monday to Friday between 8am and 5.30pm.
A step-by-step online 'e-guide' to completing the application form:
http://www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk/eguide
7. Applying for a CRB Disclosure through Foundation for Community Dance
The
Foundation for Community Dance is a Criminal Records Bureau
(CRB) Registered Body, which allows us to provide an Enhanced
Disclosure application service for members.
The
following information gives further details about Disclosures, why they
are required and how to apply for them through the Foundation for
Community Dance.
Background Information
The CRB is a Home Office agency run by the private consultancy Capita. It gives employers and voluntary organisations access to information about criminal records and other relevant information about individuals they intend to appoint in paid or voluntary posts - particularly those working with children and young people under 18 years of age and vulnerable adults - through a ‘Disclosure’.
The Disclosure can inform a decision about whether an individual is appropriate to be working or have contact with or access to children, young people and vulnerable adults. The Disclosure service replaced the old system of police checks, as it consolidates data and information from a number of different sources, such as the Department for Health and the Department for Education & Skills. The CRB provides this service across England and Wales. People living and working in Scotland should contact Disclosure Scotland on 0870 609 6006 or info@disclosurescotland.co.uk.
Level of Disclosure
There are two kinds of Disclosure: Standard and Enhanced. All disclosures applied for by the Foundation for Community Dance are Enhanced level Disclosures. Enhanced Disclosures are for people in posts that involve a level of contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Applying for a Disclosure through the Foundation for Community Dance
This service is only offered to members of the Foundation for Community Dance. Please see our membership section of the website for available categories of membership and benefits.
Applications must be completed by the individual that the Disclosure is for: it is not possible for a representative from an organisation to complete a Disclosure application on behalf of someone else, although it is possible for an organisation to request and return a number of applications at once. A set of explanation notes will be issued with each disclosure application form sent out.
Once an application has been received at the Foundation’s offices it will then be checked against the identity documents, counter-signed, and sent to the CRB for processing. All identity documents will then be returned to the individual by registered post.
When an application has been processed, the CRB will send one copy of the Disclosure directly to the individual and one copy to the Foundation for Community Dance as the Registered Body. It is then the responsibility of the individual to present their Disclosure to the employer. Please note, where applications have been requested by an organisation as employer, Disclosures will not be returned to them, but to the individuals themselves. Copies of Disclosures kept by the Foundation for Community Dance are sealed and securely stored in our safe. Under no circumstances will we at any time reveal a Disclosure to anyone else. In line with the CRB’s Disclosure Service Code of Practice, we will destroy copies of Disclosure certificates held six months after the date of issue.
Applications for Volunteers
Disclosures
for volunteers are only available through organisation category members of the Foundation for
Community Dance. Applications must include confirmation in writing that
an individual is working on a voluntary basis. The confirmation must be
signed and dated and be written on company letterhead paper where
possible. The CRB’s definition of a volunteer is: a
person working in a position for which there is no remuneration, other
than out of pocket expenses. Remunerated positions within a
volunteering organisation that qualify for a higher-level Disclosure
are liable to pay for the Disclosure. It is therefore a role of the
Countersignatory to validate whether the position is considered
voluntary. Disclosure applications at the volunteer rate cannot be made for students and/or people on work experience or placements.
Cost
The price payable per form submitted to the CRB for those in paid roles is £36. Volunteer checks are free. In addition to this FCD charge an administration and processing fee per application - depending on the type of membership held with the Foundation for Community Dance. There is no administration charge for Individual Professional Members (one per year) or for the first five forms submitted by Organisational Professional Members with a charge of £8.50 per application thereafter. The admin fee for Associate Members is £15.00. The full charge for non-members (organisations only) is £30.00.Disclosure processing time
The estimated processing time for each Disclosure is 4 to 6 weeks. There is no possibility of making an urgent application or trying to hurry one through.
Duplications
Once a Disclosure has been issued it is important for the individual to keep it in a safe place, as the CRB will not issue duplicate copies.
Further information and questions
For further information about the Criminal Records Bureau and Disclosures, visit the CRB website at www.crb.gov.uk, or call the helpline on 0870 90 90 811.
You can download copies of the Foundation for Community Dance information sheet: Child Protection issues and the Criminal Records Bureau here.
For further information about the Disclosure service being offered by the Foundation for Community Dance or to request an application form, call Shelley Trevelyan, Membership Services Coordinator on 0116 253 3453 or email shelley@communitydance.org.uk
