Briefing 029 - The Independent Safeguarding Authority  - update

This is an update to the Briefing Note PO27 issued Jan 08.

What is it and what will it do?

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been created to help prevent unsuitable people working with children and vulnerable adults.
They will do this by:
•    working in partnership with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) which will gather relevant information on every person who wants to work or volunteer with vulnerable people
•    using this information on a case-by-case basis to decide whether each person is suited to this work
•    securely storing information about people’s ISA status for employers and voluntary organisations to use when they are recruiting

The ISA vetting service will cover around 11 million people within a wide variety of workplaces.

Its remit will extend over many kinds of vulnerable people, including:
•    children
•    elderly people
•    sick people
•    anyone receiving treatment from a GP or hospital
•    prisoners

Relevant workplaces include:
•    schools
•    nurseries
•    retirement homes
•    children’s homes
•    hospitals
•    doctor’s surgeries
•    prisons

Many people working in these places will need to be ISA registered, including:
•    doctors
•    nurses
•    midwives
•    healthcare assistants
•    teachers
•    teaching assistants
•    nursery nurses
•    prison warders
•    social workers

The new process will also cover other staff employed in these workplaces, such as caretakers or office staff.  And it will affect self-employed people who work with vulnerable groups, such as:
•    child minders
•    music teachers
•    swimming instructors
•    carers
•    home tutors

The new vetting service will begin to operate on 12th October 2009 (deferred from Autumn 08).  This means that employers, statutory bodies and voluntary organisations will need to change their recruitment procedures and begin the process of ensuring their existing workers and volunteers are assessed by the ISA.  Those who work with vulnerable groups will need to register with the ISA.

How will the ISA operate?

The ISA will assess every person who wants to work or volunteer with vulnerable people.  Potential employees and volunteers will need to apply to register with the ISA.

Applicants will be assessed using data gathered by the CRB including relevant criminal convictions, cautions, police intelligence and other appropriate sources.  Only applicants who are judged not to pose a risk to vulnerable people can be ISA-registered.  Employers who work with vulnerable people will only be allowed to recruit people who are ISA registered.

How will this make things better?

The new ISA vetting service will differ from previous schemes, under which the employer was responsible for checking each job applicant’s record with the CRB and then deciding whether to employ them.  Now, anyone applying for jobs/volunteering with vulnerable people will need to be ISA registered otherwise they cannot be hired/taken on.

For employees and volunteers being ISA-registered will be a positive recommendation they can put on their CV.  It means that they have been vetted by the ISA and no evidence of unsuitability to work with vulnerable people has been found.

Once someone is registered, any new information, which shows that they pose a risk to vulnerable people, will be automatically passed to the ISA.  If necessary their ISA registration will be removed and the current employer will be informed.

The new vetting service is expected to make the recruitment process faster and more streamlined for both employers and employees.  However, it should be regarded as an addition to, not a replacement for, the safe recruitment practices all employers should continue to follow.

How the vetting system works now

Employers working with vulnerable people have a number of resources to help them decide whether to recruit a job applicant.

They should ask the CRB to check if the applicant has a criminal record.  They can also check lists held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health of people who are forbidden to work with vulnerable groups.

Once all the information is gathered, it’s up to the employer to decide whether or not to hire the job applicant/take on the volunteer.

How it will work from 2009

The new vetting service will bring together all these resources to assess people who want to work with vulnerable groups.

Most people don’t have any record of unsuitability for this work and the CRB will be able to issue ISA registration straightaway.  Where information is found, it will be passed to the ISA whose experts will decide if the person may work with vulnerable people

Successful applicants will be given an ISA registration number, whilst those who are found to be unsuitable will be placed on an ISA barred list.

Employers and voluntary organisations that work with vulnerable groups will only be able to recruit people who are ISA registered.

The ISA’s records will be constantly updated as fresh information is gathered.  If new data indicates that an individual may now pose a risk to vulnerable people, they will be put on he barred list and their current employer will be informed immediately.

Where will this information come from?

The CRB and ISA will work closely together.  The CRB will receive applications to the ISA and will gather and monitor information.  It will also use the information previously found in:
•    the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list
•    the Protection of Children’s Act (PoCA) list
•    List 99 (a list of people considered unsuitable for work with children, held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families)

What about privacy?

The new vetting system will not create a list of people who can or cannot work with vulnerable groups which is open to all.  Employers, to check whether a job applicant is ISA-registered, can only access the information on a case-by-case basis.  The barred list is only available to the police and other law enforcement agencies.

How you’ll be affected

Employers and voluntary organisations working with vulnerable people

From 12 October 2009, when you recruit anyone new, they will need to apply for ISA registration as part of the recruitment process (this is the same for volunteers).

Once the ISA service is established, anyone who applies for a job/to volunteer at your workplace will need to give you their ISA registration number.  You won’t be charged a fee for checking people’s status

If the applicant is ISA-registered, it means that either no relevant information about them exists, or the ISA experts have assessed the information and decided that the applicant doesn’t pose a risk.  With all ISA-registered job applicants, it will be your decision whether or not to hire them.  The ISA vetting service is a tool to help you recruit more safely, but doesn’t replace your own recruitment processes.

If the applicant isn’t ISA-registered this could mean they haven’t applied to the ISA, or that they are on the barred list.  In either case you must not hire them.

You will also need to make sure that your existing employees/volunteers are ISA-registered.  You must start by asking those who have no CRB check to apply for ISA registration.  You’ll then need to make sure that employees/volunteers with CRB checks apply for registration, starting with those whose CRB checks are the oldest.  ISA will issue detailed guidance on the timing of this process.  This requirement will be phased in over 5 years.

You must also let the ISA know of any relevant recorded disciplinary procedures involving your existing employees/volunteers, so that it can update its records.  If you hire someone who isn’t ISA-registered or who is barred, you could be fined or face a prison sentence.

Employees/volunteers working with vulnerable people

If you want to work with children, elderly people, sick people or other vulnerable people, from 12 October 2009 you will need to apply to the ISA.  This can be done through your employer if you have one, or if you are applying for a job.  If you are self-employed – for example, you are a child-minder – you will need to do this yourself.  The ISA website will explain how to do this.

There will be a one off fee of £64 to register.  Once you are ISA-registered, you will be given an ISA-registration number which you can give to employers whenever you apply for a job, so that they can check your ISA status on-line.
Volunteers who want to work with vulnerable people will need to apply to the ISA in the same way as paid employees do.  However, you won’t need to pay a fee.  And like paid employees, you will only need to register once.  If you have a record of unsuitability for working with vulnerable groups, or you have committed certain criminal offences, you may be judged as unsuitable and you may not be able to get ISA registration. Instead, you will be put on a barred list and you will no longer be able to work with vulnerable people.  If you apply for a job with vulnerable people when you know you are on the barred list, you could be fined or face a prison sentence.

Being ISA-registered does not mean the general public will have access to information about you.  Only employers will be able to access your ISA status with the identification you supply, and they will only be able to check that you are ISA registered.  No one except ISA caseworkers and the police will be able to see actual information that is held about you.

ISA and CRB checks

Does the ISA replace the Criminal Records Bureau?
No.  The ISA is a new service that will enhance the current service to employers provided by the CRB.

Does the ISA replace the 3 current government lists of those banned from working with children and the vulnerable?
Yes.  The ISA will maintain two registers, one for the children and one for the vulnerable adult workforce.

What is the difference between the service offered by the ISA and the CRB?
The ISA will prevent the most unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults by making it a legal requirement for everyone who is working with children or the vulnerable to be registered with the ISA.  The CRB will continue to support employers by providing them with access to an individual’s full criminal record and other information so that they can assess the individual’s suitability for the particular post or voluntary position.

Does an ISA check replace a CRB check?
No.  An ISA check will reveal if the person is registered and able to work with children/vulnerable adults.  A CRB check will reveal if the person has a criminal record or if any relevant non-conviction information exists.  A person could be registered with ISA but still have a criminal record that if known by the employer would make the person unsuitable to do a particular job.

How will individuals apply to register with the ISA?
Individuals in England and Wales will apply to the CRB, through one of its registered bodies, for registration with the ISA.  (In Hastings it is envisaged that this will continue to be handled by In2Play, the umbrella body currently providing CRB checks to the voluntary and community sector).

Why do individuals have to apply through the CRB for an ISA registration?
The CRB was selected by the government to provide the administrative support to the ISA for the application process.  The benefit of this is the CRB has the experience of handling large volumes of applications for CRB checks.  However, the decision to bar a person rests with the ISA

This briefing paper is based on information from the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the Criminal Records Bureau as at the end of May 2008.  Further information will be issued in the form of briefing papers as and when it becomes available.


Independent Safeguarding Authority     www.isa-gov.org

Criminal Records Bureau            www.crb.gov.uk

Volunteering England    http://www.volunteering.org.uk/Resources/goodpracticebank/Information/Safeguarding.htm

RJA/29/5/08