isa

INDEPENDENT SAFEGUARDING AUTHORITY (ISA)
Vetting & Barring Scheme

THE ROLL OUT

From 26th July 2010:

* Individuals will be able, via Registered/Umbrella Bodies, to apply to the CRB for ISA-registration if they are applying to work with children and/or vulnerable adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
* There will be a 5 year phased roll out for ISA registration of those individuals who currently work with children and/or vulnerable adults.
* Employers will be able to express an interest in a person’s ISA-registration and be informed of any changes to that person’s ISA-registration status.
* The CRB will introduce a new application form to allow applications for ISA-registration and CRB checks to be made on the same form. (See below for proposed fees).
* Employers can carry out free, online checks of a person’s ISA-registration status.

From November 2010:

* It will be a legal requirement for individuals to register with the ISA if they intend to work or currently work with children and/or vulnerable adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
* It will become a crime for a barred individual to seek or undertake work with vulnerable groups and for employers / groups to knowingly take them on.

The creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is part of the biggest overhaul of vetting and barring arrangements ever undertaken in this country. It will cover 11.3 million people wishing to seek work or volunteer with children or vulnerable adults.

The ISA scheme will mean a single vetting authority maintains a constantly updated list of people who are not allowed to work with children or vulnerable adults – this will incorporate all existing barring lists.

If a person is not barred from employment with vulnerable people they will be ISA registered, although it will remain the employer’s decision whether to hire them. The authority will work alongside the Criminal Records Bureau, which will continue to issue criminal records disclosures to help employers make recruitment decisions.

Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said: 'The Independent Safeguarding Authority is at the heart of the Government's drive to increase the protection of vulnerable members of our society.

'The mandatory scheme aims to prevent those who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults from gaining access to them through their work.

'From October 2009 employers will be able to check that individual staff members have been assessed for work with vulnerable groups, further enhancing one of the most robust employment checking systems in the world.'

The ISA is an independent body with its own remit and barring criteria which will decide on a case-by-case basis if an individual poses a risk of harm to vulnerable groups.

Individuals wishing to undertake paid employment while engaging with vulnerable groups will pay a one-off fee of Ł64. The fee will consist of two components: an ISA registration fee of Ł28 and a CRB enhanced disclosure, currently Ł36, which provides employers with details of information held on police records about potential staff members.

However, there will be no cost for volunteers.

Sir Roger Singleton, ISA Chairman said: 'The Independent Safeguarding Authority will provide a groundbreaking vetting and barring service to prevent those deemed unsuitable from working with children or vulnerable adults from October 2009.

'The go-live date has been reached after consultation with key strategic partners to make sure that it is not only operationally feasible, but that it also gives employers enough time to fully prepare for the introduction of the scheme.

'This is a complex scheme which will cover 11.3 million people within a wide variety of workplaces. Starting in 2009 will allow us to ensure an improved level of safeguarding as well the development of better information sharing systems.'
Notes to Editors

1. The ISA was established in January 2008 after being created by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The scheme is one of 31 recommendations in the Bichard report.

2. The overriding aim of the ISA will be to help avoid harm, or risk of harm, to children and vulnerable adults. It will aim to do this by preventing those who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults from gaining access to them through their work.

It will do this by:

Working in partnership with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), which will gather information on a person who will or wishes to work in regulated or controlled activity with vulnerable groups.

Using this information to decide on a case-by-case basis if an individual is poses a risk of harm to vulnerable groups and securely storing information about people’s ISA status for employers and voluntary organisations to use when they are recruiting.

3. The scheme will be largely self-financing. Individual applicants wishing to seek work with vulnerable groups engaging in regulated or controlled activities will have to pay a fee of Ł64. The fee will consist of two components – a CRB enhanced disclosure which currently costs Ł36 and the cost of an ISA registration which will be Ł28.
Volunteers will not have to pay a registration fee.

4. The ISA is a Non-Departmental Public Body. It will be based in Darlington and it will consist of a small Board of public appointees and up to 300 ISA employees. The employees will be highly skilled and trained to make barring decisions.

Visit the ISA website:
www.isa-gov.org
Visit the C.M.A.A. disclosure servive website: www.disclosure.me.uk

The following 'flyer' (below) has been officially released by the ISA, to down load it as a JPEG click here.

THE BASICS

You can apply for registration through your Martial Arts Group if you have one, or if you are applying for a job, through your prespective employer.

If you are self-employed – as a childminder, for example – you will need to apply yourself. You will be able to do this through the website as the ISA vetting service is phased in.

Key Dates

July 2010 - People who have NEVER had a CRB check done can register with the ISA

November 2010 - People who have NEVER had a CRB check done MUST register with the ISA by law.

April 2011 - People who have already been CRB checked can start to register with the ISA.

Paid Persons & Employees

If you already work with children or vulnerable adults and have had a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, you will need to apply for ISA registration in due course. Within the C.M.A.A. this will be the next time your CRB check becomes due after July 2010 when the new forms become available.

If you already work with children or vulnerable adults and have not been CRB checked you will need to apply for ISA registration as early as possible. This will be no different to the norm' for new Instrutors appyling to join the C.M.A.A. as this is a mandatory requirement.

In both cases you will need to pay a one-off fee. Once you have paid for registration we will give you a personal ISA Registration Number and you remain on our database even if you change employers.

Volunteers

If you work or want to work with vulnerable people you will need to apply to register with the ISA in exactly the same way as a paid person or employee.

The only difference is that we do not charge an application fee for volunteers.

Unsuitable people

If you have a record of unsuitability for working with vulnerable groups or if you have committed certain offences, the ISA may not be able to register you.

Instead you will be put on an ISA Barred List and may not be able to work with vulnerable people.

If you apply for a job with children or vulnerable adults when you know you have been barred you could be fined or face imprisonment.

Your privacy

ISA registration does not mean that we make your details available to the general public.

Only employers will be able to access your information – and only after you give them your ISA Registration Number.

Employers will only be able to check that you are in fact ISA-registered.

Only ISA case workers and the police will have access to information we hold about you.