Author: Kate Dodsworth

Issue: September 09

Publication: Suf Bus

You will no doubt remember the outcry following the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by their school caretaker, Ian Huntley, in 2002. The public was incensed that more was not done to prevent unsuitable and potentially dangerous individuals from working with children. Following the Bichard Inquiry, which investigated the case, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (“the Act”) was enacted and will come into force in stages.

The Act establishes the Independent Safeguarding Authority (“the ISA”). The ISA’s role is to gather information on people wishing to work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults. ‘Vulnerable adults’ includes people living in residential care or sheltered accommodation and anyone in receipt of any form of health care. The information in question includes relevant criminal convictions, cautions, police intelligence and data gathered under previous schemes. This is in an attempt to avoid the oversights that were uncovered in the Soham murders, where agencies did not co-operate and information slipped through the net.

The scope of the Act is wide ranging and it extends not only to the more obvious professions such as teaching and nursing, but also to nannies, home tutors, some school governors, trustees of certain charities, some employment agencies, care homes and sports clubs. If your business provides contract cleaners to a hospital or receptionists to an independent school, for example, the obligations to vet individuals and report information to the ISA will apply.

The timetable for implementation has crept up on us. Employers and service providers caught by the Act either must or may (depending on the type of business) refer relevant information to the ISA. This requirement has been in force since 12th October 2009. Information must be referred as soon as it becomes available to the employer. In addition, employers must inform the ISA when an employee is dismissed or resigns because they have harmed or may harm a child or vulnerable adult. From 26th July 2010, all new entrants to the kinds of roles listed above may register with the ISA and be checked by them. From November 2010, all affected new entrants and existing workers must register.

In some circumstances it will be a criminal offence for an employer to take on an employee without checking their status or to allow a barred or unregistered employee to carry on working for any length of time.

The financial implications are also worth considering. The Criminal Records Bureau check many of us are familiar with will remain and there is a fee to pay when completing this. There is also a fee involved in an application to the ISA. Employers must choose either to take on these costs themselves or to pass them on to the job applicant or employee.

The obligations the Act creates are complicated and reach further than may be expected. The key is to take advice to establish if the Act affects your business and, if so, to what extent. In view of the advancing timetable for compliance, taking advice at an early stage is vital.

Kate Dodsworth, Solicitor

Employment Department