Vetting & Barring Scheme Update
The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), created under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, is one of the Government’s responses to the Bichard Inquiry and aims to prevent harm to children or vulnerable adults by those who seek to work with them either as paid staff or volunteers.
In September 2009, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls asked Sir Roger Singleton, the Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children and Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), to respond to the Government’s Vetting and Barring Scheme. The report that was subsequently published by Sir Roger Singleton in December 2009 takes into account public concerns about the Scheme and checks that the Government had drawn the line in the right place in relation to the requirement to register.
Within his report, Sir Roger Singleton made a number of recommendations regarding the scheme, all of which have been accepted by Ed Balls. Among these recommendations include making adjustments to the rules of the scheme to ensure it strikes the right balance between protecting children and vulnerable adults without being unnecessarily burdensome, particularly to private arrangements between parents and friends.
For further information, North Bank Forum has created the following two briefing document summarising Sir Roger Singleton’s report:
For further briefing documents from North Bank Forum, please visit their website.
