'afternoon one and all,
This sounds something that will need close attention for us freelancers. I
hope the GEM list will prove - as it has in the past - a good way of keeping
us upto date on this.
Given that CRB has been a pain - some organisations demanding specific
checks with in last 3-6 months for that body only, whilst others accept one
as long as current (say upto 18 months) and by/for some other body. e.g. our
check made by/for Devon CC/LEA is acceptable to Eng Heritage. Will this new
ISA registration be accepted nation wide? AND what will be the costs for
the likes of us I wonder? (low turnover etc)
Cheers
Peter Hood
www.pastpresent.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sun Jester" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 2:31 PM
Subject: New child protection legislation


> Hello everyone
> An organisation that works with children that I am involved with in a
> voluntary capacity is now jumping through the latest set of hoops on child
> protection. I am forwarding part of the text of a recent email as they and
> I would like to know how far any of you Gemmers out there (particularly
> those of you who are self employed because this will cost you extra money)
> are aware of what is going on and what actions your own organisations are
> taking. It seems to me that the implications of this are huge (likely to
> affect 11million people!) and neither is it clear cut about voluntary
> staff either. It may even affect whether or not parents are allowed to
> stay to sessions when other children are unaccompanied. I don't want
> people to panic but just wonder how far down the food chain this is being
> thought about and actioned .....
> Towse Harrison
>
> Message reads:
> I'm e-mailing to let you know about a new body that
>> will begin operating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in October
>> 2009; Scotland is currently setting up its own similar service.
>>
>> You may think that October 2009 is a long way away and why on earth am
> I
>> bothering you about it now?! Well, potentially there could be some
>> changes for the way volunteering (and paid employment for those in
>> certain roles) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland works (and
>> Scotland later on) and I felt it was important to give you an idea
> about
>> things as early on as possible.
>>
>> The new service is called the Independent Safeguarding Authority, or
> ISA
>> for short. They have a website which can be found at:
>> http://www.isa-gov.org.uk/ The service is a result of the Bichard
>> Enquiry which was set up after the Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
>> tragedy. The ISA have a legal remit set down in 'The Safeguarding
>> Vulnerable Groups Act 2006' and the scheme will have new legal
>> implications for all those working with children or vulnerable adults.
>>
>> As the scheme is still at the formulation/setting up stage, many of
> the
>> in-depth details of how the scheme will work etc are still being
> ironed
>> out. However, we are likely to be defined by them as a 'regulated
>> activity' which will mean that people will need to be registered with
>> the ISA in order to volunteer with young people. Registrations for
>> volunteers will be free and applying for
>> registration with ISA will be done through the Criminal Records Bureau
>> (CRB) form; they're currently designing a new form! The scheme is
> going
>> to be administered by the CRB but ISA registration, unlike Disclosure
>> checks, will be portable and will also not need to be renewed once you
>> have signed up. CRB checks will continue to be done alongside the
>> registration scheme. It is anticipated that it will take five years
> for
>> the ISA scheme to be fully operational and it will cover at least 11
>> million people.
>>
>> At the moment I don't want to burden people with details but it is
>> important that people recognise that ISA registration is going to be a
>> legal requirement with which we must comply. We are currently looking
>> at all the details - and waiting for more in-depth details from the
> ISA
>> - and we will of course keep you up-to-date with what is going on. At
>> the moment I would be really interested to know how many people have
>> heard of the ISA scheme and how many people have been told that they
>> will need to be registered due to their paid employment or other
>> voluntary roles that they do. If you've heard nothing then don't
> worry,
>> it's just so we can gauge what other organisations have told people so
>> far.
>