Government urges employers to get ready for new vetting scheme
Employers that recruit people who work with vulnerable groups should get ready for new safety checks to be introduced in October.
Under the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), employers will only be allowed to employ people who are going to regularly work with children or vulnerable adults if they are registered with the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) – which will have the power to bar individuals from those occupations. This is of particular significance to a lot of our candidates here at The Synergy Group, as these changes directly affect some of our principal areas such as Social Care and Housing.
The new checks will cover employees and volunteers in a variety of sectors that already have similar schemes, such as education, care and health, but some professions will be affected for the first time. As “regular” contact with vulnerable groups is defined as once a month or more, some hospital administrators, school cleaners and caterers will be among the new groups affected. The Home Office has not yet confirmed a comprehensive list, insisting it depends on the “individual details of each role”.
One of the main complaints from workers affected by these changes is that they will have to pay £64 to register with the ISA from the autumn, and all current staff must be listed by the time the scheme is fully rolled out in July 2015. Volunteers will also need to be vetted, although they can register for free.
While individuals will originally be assessed using background checks from the Criminal Records Bureau, employers will be legally obliged to contribute information to the scheme. Details of employee investigations, dismissals and dangerous behaviour must be submitted to the VBS, so that individuals can be continuously monitored throughout their career, bringing personal data issues into play as well.
The scheme has been created as a result of Sir Michael Bichard’s inquiry into the murder of two schoolgirls in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002. It replaces three current protection lists. Bichard’s report recommended that information should be more readily shared among authorities in order to prevent future crimes.
“We believe this is by far the most sensible way to safeguard the public and simplify the current system,” a Home Office spokesman said. However, the plans have come under fire from children’s authors who will need to be vetted by the scheme to visit schools for book talks. Parents will also need to be registered as volunteers in order to host foreign exchange students.
“Nobody would disagree with the end aim of this scheme, or the principles of information-sharing and joined-up working,” said a CIPD spokesperson. “But the number of people this affects could be dramatic, so employers need to be aware of how it will affect them in order to minimise disruption.”
The CIPD added that the Home Office needed to fully communicate and educate employers about their new VBS obligations.