Are you ready for the ISA?
In the lead up to Sitra’s major national conference on safeguarding issue, Adam Knight-Markiegi considers the new Independent Safeguarding Authority.
There is a new regulatory system for deciding who cannot work with vulnerable adults and children. Here we remind you about the key changes and look in more detail at employers’ duties.
The Independent Safeguarding Authority
The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is the new body set up to bar unsuitable people from working with vulnerable adults and children. It will work closely with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to gather relevant information about people working with these client groups.
In practice, you will continue to seek CRB checks for relevant people and this information will be sent directly to the ISA. So your initial dealings will still be with the CRB or one of its umbrella bodies. From July 2010, all new employees or volunteers working with vulnerable adults or children will have to register directly with the ISA. This will also be phased in for existing staff and volunteers from November 2010, starting with those moving jobs to ‘regulated activities’ and those with the oldest CRB checks, gradually extending to all people working with these groups.
‘Regulated activities’ include many housing support services, particularly assistance, advice or guidance provided for vulnerable adults. However, it is unclear whether all client groups count as ‘vulnerable’. For now, you should assume that it affects you and your organisation.
By 2015 anybody wanting to work with vulnerable adults or children will need to be registered with the ISA. Working with these groups while barred will be a criminal offence, as will employing somebody without checking their ISA status or allowing a barred person to work with such clients.
There are currently three lists of people excluded from working with vulnerable adults and children, the PoVa and PoCA lists and List 99. These are being replaced with just two: a list of people barred from working with vulnerable adults and another for those barred from working with children.
New duties for employers
A big change in the new system is that, once ISA registered, people will be continuously monitored. This means that any new offences or evidence of inappropriate behaviour will also be captured, plugging a gap in the current system. And the ISA will immediately notify employers of these concerns, to further safeguard clients.
But employers also have a new duty. From this month they will have to notify the ISA when someone is dismissed, or an individual resigns, because they harmed, or may harm, a child or vulnerable adult. This is for any employers and service providers of ‘regulated’ and ‘controlled’ activities. Relevant information should be provided to the ISA as soon as it is available.
Other employers, that is, those outside the definition of ‘regulated’ or ‘controlled’ activities, should report any concerns using existing channels. This will normally be your local authority safeguarding team or in extreme cases the police. It will then be down to these agencies to report concerns to the ISA.
Providing this information is extremely important for the new system to work and to safeguard vulnerable adults and children. So there will be a new offence – punishable by a fine – for employers who fail to provide relevant information to the ISA without a reasonable excuse.
But also remember that the new arrangements don’t remove the need for a thorough recruitment process, including checking references with previous employers. Regular staff supervision and a proactive approach to safeguarding within your organisation are also important to stop abuse from taking place.
Find out more at www.isa-gov.org.uk
