Protection of Freedoms Bills announcement

On 11 February 2011 the Coalition Government published the findings of two reviews relating to safeguarding and vetting information.  

1. Review into the Vetting and Barring Scheme: Vetting & Barring Remodelling Review – Report and Recommendations: DofE; DoH and HO

2. Review of the criminal records regime in England and Wales: A Common Sense Approach: Sunita Mason

The Protection of Freedoms Bill proposes legislation for a scaled back VBS and reforms to CRB checks. However, the review of the criminal records regime is now entering a second phase, which deals with broader issues relating to the handling of criminal records. The government will make a full response to the whole review once this work is complete.  

The key recommendations of the VBS review include:  

• The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) should be merged and a single Non-Departmental Public Body or Agency created to provide a barring and criminal records disclosure service.
• The new system should retain current arrangements for referrals, by employers and certain regulatory bodies, in circumstances where individuals have demonstrated a risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults. Referrals will be made to the new state barring body (currently the ISA).

• The new system will retain two offences;

• it will continue to be an offence for a barred person to work with vulnerable groups in regulated activity;
• it will also be an offence for an employer or voluntary organisation knowingly to employ a barred person in regulated activity.

• Registration with the VBS should be scrapped. There will be no requirement for those working or volunteering with vulnerable groups to register and there will be no ongoing monitoring.

• The new barring regime should cover only those who may have regular or close contact with vulnerable groups. A change to the definition of regulated activity will result in large reduction of the number of positions requiring checks to just those working most closely and regularly with children and vulnerable adults. In addition the concept of ‘controlled activity’ is abolished.

• Criminal records disclosures should continue to be available to employers and voluntary bodies but should be revised to become portable through the introduction of a system which allows for continuous updating.

• The Government should raise awareness of safeguarding issues and should widely promote the part everyone has to play in ensuring proper safeguarding amongst employers, volunteer organisations, families and the wider community.  

 

Key recommendations from Criminal Records Regime review included in the Protection of Freedoms Bill:

• Children under 16 should not be eligible for criminal records checks. 

and

• Individual eligibility should be scaled back to focus tightly on those working unsupervised or in regular close contact with children or vulnerable adults, and those in a much smaller of specifically prescribed roles. 

• Criminal records checks should be portable (transferable) between jobs and activities

and

• that the CRB introduce an online system to allow employers to check if updated information is held on an applicant

• Introduction of a package of measures to improve the disclosure of police information. Additional safeguards to include:

• Criminal records certificate is only issued directly to the individual applicant;
• Better test of relevancy for approved (soft) information as non-convictions;
• Abolish the provision of ‘additional information’ as part of CRB checks so that the police use alternative methods to disclose this information outside the criminal records disclosure system.

Other recommendations include:

• Basic level criminal record checks are introduced in England and Wales.
• Stopping employers who knowingly request criminal records checks on individuals who are not entitled to them – where employers knowingly make unlawful criminal records check applications the penalties and sanctions are rigorously enforced.  

However until the Bill is enacted, existing arrangements remain in place:  

• Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is responsible for the disclosure of criminal records.
• Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will continue to carry out its work as an independent decision making body as well as continuing to maintain the barred lists (those barred from working with children and vulnerable adults) and accept referrals.

• A person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer, in regulated activity with those groups.
• An organisation which knowingly employs someone into regulated activity who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law.
•  If an organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and dismisses or removes a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or would have done so if they had not left, must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority. 

CRU will continue to advise on CRB check eligibility according to the definition of regulated activity as set out in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 or where a position is exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions order) 1975. Appropriate Enhanced Disclosure requests for working wi
th children and/or vulnerable adults will be countersigned and forwarded to the CRB as usual.  

The press release is available at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/criminal-record-checks  

To access the Protection of Freedoms Bill http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/protectionoffreedoms.html  

Other relevant information:

www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/vetting-barring-scheme/

www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/vbs-report

www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/criminal-records-review-phase1/