Employers and volunteer organisations who deal with children and
vulnerable adults always need to check a person’s ISA status before
employing them. You cannot take their word for it and neither can
you have them in post – even supervised – before you know the
outcome of the check.
The basics
From 12 October additional “regulated activities” will be
brought into force under the Vetting and Barring Scheme. This will
significantly extend the scope of activities and workplaces covered
by barring. It will be an offence for any barred person to
work in regulated activities, and for any employer to employ
someone he knows to be barred, either paid or voluntary.
From July 2010, when you recruit someone new to work with
children or vulnerable adults you may check their ISA status.
This will determine whether or not you can employ them (or take
them on as volunteers), and may affect what activities they can
undertake.Registration and checking registered status will become
mandatory for phased-in groups from November 2010.
We divide work with vulnerable groups into two categories:
controlled and regulated
activities. (For full definitions of these see the downloadable pdf
factsheet on controlled and regulated activities.)
Only an ISA-registered person can undertake
regulated activity – it is illegal to employ an
unregistered person and can result in imprisonment or a fine of up
to £5000. An unregistered person means that a person has either not
applied to register with us or that they are on an ISA
Barred List.
For controlled activity it is still mandatory
to check the ISA status of an applicant before you employ them.
However, you may be able to employ a barred person provided certain
safeguards are in place.
For certain organisations and posts you will also need to carry
out a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check on applicants.
Existing employees
You will also need to ensure that existing employees are
ISA-registered.
First you should ask those who have not been previously checked
by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to apply for ISA
registration.
Next you should ask those who have been CRB checked to apply,
beginning with staff whose CRB checks are the oldest.
We will add detailed guidance on the timing of this process as
the ISA vetting service is phased in.
Registering with us
It is the individual applicant’s responsibility to apply to
register with the ISA. If they have not applied for registration
you can’t employ them. It is your responsibility to check a
potential employee or volunteer’s status. If an applicant is not
ISA-registered they have either not applied or are on an ISA Barred
List.
You will not be charged for checking someone’s ISA status.
Once you have registered your interest in an individual as their
employer, you will automatically be contacted should their status
change – that is, if new information leads to an ISA decision to
bar them.
Your responsibilities for referring information to us
In order to continuously monitor ISA-registered individuals, we
need information from employers.
Employers, professional and regulatory bodies, and child/adult
protection teams in local authorities will be under a duty to refer
relevant information to the ISA.
All other employers of those working with children or vulnerable
adults may provide information to us.
How this applies to parents
As a parent employing someone to look after your children you
are not obliged to check if they are ISA-registered, but you are
free to do so for the extra reassurance this can offer.
If you wish to refer information about someone to the ISA you
should do this through a statutory agency such as social services
or the police. They will be able to investigate the matter and
refer information to us if appropriate.
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