Vetting
and Barring Scheme registration halted
The Government has announced that it is stopping
registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme, for new employees and
job-movers working or volunteering with children and vulnerable adults, in
response to criticism that the current scheme is disproportionate, overly
burdensome, and infringes on civil liberties.
Voluntary registration with the Vetting and Barring
Scheme (VBS) for new employees and job-movers working or volunteering with
children and vulnerable adults was due to start on 26 July 2010, with
compulsory registration due to follow in November 2010. However, following
criticism of the VBS, the Home Office has announced that the Scheme is being
reviewed in order to scale registration back to ‘proportionate, common sense
levels’.
The VBS is intended to protect children and
vulnerable adults by stopping those who pose a known risk from working with
them. Although voluntary registration has been halted, the following
requirements, which came into effect in 2009, remain in place: (i) the
Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will continue to maintain two lists,
one for those barred from working with children, the other for those barred
from working with vulnerable adults; (ii) existing requirements concerning
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks will remain in place; and (iii) employers
are still legally obliged to refer information to the ISA if they have moved or
removed an individual because they have harmed or there is a risk of harm to a
member of a vulnerable group
The scope of the
remodelling process is currently being finalised and will be announced shortly.
June 2010
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