Independent Safeguarding Authority

Aims and Objectives

Objectives of the Independent Safeguarding Authority

The Independent Safeguarding Authority will provide an independent body of expertise to take decisions regarding the inclusion of individuals on the list(s) of those barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

It will:

ensure that barring decisions which require discretion are taken by those with relevant experience and expertise rather than by Ministers or officials.
promote confidence within the client-base and the general public that decisions on barring are taken fairly without inappropriate interference from Government or any other interested party.

Operation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority

Applications considered by the Independent Safeguarding Authority for decision will initially be subject to an assessment by a caseworker. The caseworker will consider all evidence presented and may investigate further. Caseworkers will have clearly defined authority to make decisions to include individuals on barred lists or to exclude them. Caseworkers' decisions in these cases will be subject to a comprehensive assurance framework. Complex cases will be referred to the Board of the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Customer understanding

To ensure a service that is fit for purpose and successful, the Independent Safeguarding Authority will need to understand and address proactively the needs and interests of its stakeholders during the preparatory phases through widespread consultation. In the longer term, it will need to raise awareness and understanding among all its potential end users.

The scheme is going to touch upon millions of individuals involved with vulnerable adults and children in a wide range of settings and employment situations. The range and diversity of job roles that will be involved makes our audience an extremely large one.

We are therefore committed to instigating a thorough and ongoing communications campaign to create awareness, develop understanding and help employers and employees to prepare for their new responsibilities and rights under Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act.

Delivering our Aims and Objectives

The Independent Safeguarding Authority is being created in direct response to the weaknesses in vetting procedures identified by Sir Michael Bichard in his inquiry report in 2004. The full Bichard Inquiry Report and recommendations can be found at www.bichardinquiry.org.uk.

The Bichard Inquiry was commissioned in response to the tragic deaths of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells which highlighted failings in the system to protect children from staff with a record of abuse and criminality. The Bichard Inquiry made 31 recommendations in its report - all of which were accepted by the Government in 2004. Of the 31 recommendations, most of which fell to the Police, the Home Office, and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to implement, there were eight recommendations that fell to the then Department for Education and Skills, now DCSF, to lead.

Recommendation 19 of the report was for the implementation of a registration scheme for those working with children and vulnerable adults. Sir Michael Bichard accepted Government's proposed response to establish that maintained lists of those unsuitable to work with children or vulnerable adults and to implement the new scheme from 2008. In order to enact this policy, it was determined that new primary legislation was required.

In addition, in January 2006 further safeguarding failures were detected when a registered sex offender was found to be working in a school. In response to a rapid review by the then Secretary of State for Education a number of further safeguarding improvements were proposed. One key proposal was to establish a new statutory body to make all barring decisions independent of Ministers.

On 19th January 2006, the then Secretary of State (Ruth Kelly) stated: -

I will also use this legislation ... to give independent experts the final decision on who should be barred. This will have the effect of removing from Ministers the responsibility for taking barring decisions. Decision making will be transferred to a statutory body which will be the holder of the new combined register and will take all decisions about who should be barred...

Thus, in order to respond to Bichard's recommendation, we have undertaken to deliver:

New legislation in the form of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (SVG) Act 2006 which provides the legislative framework for the new vetting and barring scheme
A new Independent Safeguarding Authority, the statutory body, independent of Ministers, that will make all discretionary decisions to bar individuals from the children's and/or vulnerable adults' workforces, based on information received from a number of sources, primarily through the CRB.
Continuous updating of any new information relevant to an applicant in the scheme, after the initial application is made.
The Independent Safeguarding Authority, the CRB and the Police (via Association of Chief Police Officers) will all work together under the guidance of the Home Office, to manage the end to end process.

The Home Office will be responsible for the implementation of the new services defined by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act. The CRB will remain as an Executive Agency of the Home Office and the Independent Safeguarding Authority will be a new Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB).

The CRB will perform new services on behalf of the Independent Safeguarding Authority to support the Authority's decision-making role by providing the initial application route, collation of all relevant information, and continuous monitoring of all applicants including an online check to provide employers with the ability to check if an applicant is subject to monitoring. The CRB will also provide information to employers that will enable them to put in place any necessary safeguards required to allow barred individuals to work in controlled activities.

Delivering the Service

The Independent Safeguarding Authority will be working closely with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to deliver the new service.

With the launch of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority will develop a strong collaborative partnership with the CRB to deliver improvements and greater protection to the most vulnerable in our society.

The CRB will deliver the end-to end administration processes which will support the Independent Safeguarding Authority's primary function of making barring decisions.

The CRB, an Executive Agency of the Home Office, provides access to criminal record information through its Disclosure service. The CRB's mission is to 'help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first-class service to support organisations recruiting people into positions of trust'.

To deliver its service the CRB has established a number of strategic partnerships across both public and private sectors:

The Police:: For the provision of information that is held on the Police National Computer and held locally by the forces.
Capita:: CRB's private sector partner that operates an administration infrastructure and call centre.
Registered Bodies:: As the primary contact point for checking Disclosure applications and validating information provided by the applicant; establishing the identity of the applicant; submitting a fully completed application form; countersigning the application form to confirm entitlement
Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF):: For the provision of information held by them, of people considered unsuitable or banned from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Further information on the CRB can be found at www.crb.gov.uk