The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was a non-departmental public body for England, Northern Ireland and Wales, that existed until 1 December 2012, when it merged with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to form the Disclosure and Barring Service.
The ISA was created by the Labour Government 2007–2010. The tabloid media campaign and the decision to set up the ISA followed an inquiry headed by Sir Michael Bichard that was set up in the wake of the Soham murders. The ISA was to oversee a new Vetting and Barring Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which was to have required all those working with vulnerable groups to undergo an enhanced vetting procedure before being allowed to commence any relevant duties.
On 15 June 2010, the new coalition government Home Secretary Theresa May announced that plans under which all new applicants for jobs working with children and the vulnerable along with those changing posts would have to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority were being halted and that the Vetting and Barring Scheme would be severely "scaled back". This will save the UK taxpayer around £100 million a year. The Home Secretary went on to say that the protection of children and vulnerable adults would from here on focus upon "common sense" rather than the measures Labour introduced. She said that "what we have got to do is actually trust people again [and that the philosophy behind the setting up of the ISA was based upon an assumption that] you were assumed to be guilty, in a sense, until you were proven innocent and told you were able to work with children."
A review into the Vetting and Barring Scheme was published on 11 February 2011. This made recommendations for the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority into one non-departmental public body, responsible for barring individuals and completing criminal record checks. Under the Protection of Freedoms Act, the new scheme will not require registration, nor in most cases will any details be retained on a database. The exception will be for those who are barred, whether this be on the basis of a crime or on the basis of 'soft intelligence', e.g. a dismissal by an employer. This has led to continued criticism from a variety of organizations.
Background The Bichard report was published on 22 June 2004 and made 31 recommendations, of which recommendation 19 called for a new registration scheme and stated:
"New arrangements should be introduced requiring those who wish to work with children, or vulnerable adults, to be registered. This register – perhaps supported by a card or licence – would confirm that there is no known reason why an individual should not work with these client groups. The new register would be administered by a central body, which would take the decision, subject to published criteria, to approve or refuse registration on the basis of all the information made available to them by the police and other agencies. The responsibility for judging the relevance of police intelligence in deciding a person’s suitability would lie with the central body"The Bichard Report pp. 15–16 , Home Office website
Of note in this recommendation is the use of the double-negative, "no known reason why an individual should not work with these client groups". This to say the ISA from its inception was not designed to clear individuals as "suitable" for work with vulnerable groups but to remove those who pose a known risk.
Proposals to implement the recommendations were put to public consultation on 5 April 2005.Making Safeguarding Everybody's Business: A Post-Bichard Vetting Scheme, DCSF website The results of this exercise were announced by the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State of the Department for Education and Skills, on 19 January 2006SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN – REVISED ARRANGEMENTS , Ruth Kelly 19 January 2006 and were translated into primary legislation, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006,Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, OPSI website which received royal assent on 8 November 2006. Within the act the ISA is referred to as the Independent Barring Board; it had been known as the ISA since August 2007,disclosure news , CRB website August 2007 but was only formally renamed following royal assent for the Policing and Crime Bill in 2009.Policing and Crime Bill 2008-09 , UK Parliament websitePolice and Crime Bill Clause 62, UK Parliament website The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act only covers England and Wales but comparable legislation has been passed to cover Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, as it was then known held further consultations.Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006: Independent Safeguarding Authority Scheme Consultation, DCSF website
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
Along with creating the ISA, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 defines two categories of work (whether paid or not) that fall within the scope of the Act: regulated and controlled activity.
Regulated activity Regulated activity is the primary area of work covered by the Act and broadly deals with all those who have direct contact with vulnerable groups. Specifically, regulated activity covers any activity which involves contact with childrendefined in the act as under 18 years of age or vulnerable adultsdefined in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act under section 59 but broadly the definition covers people by virtue of the care or treatment they are undertaking or specific place they reside rather than by age or disability and is of a specified nature (e.g. teaching, training, care, supervision, advice, treatment or transport); or any activity allowing contact with children or vulnerable adults and is in a specified place (e.g. school, Children's home, etc.). For the activity to be regulated activity it must take place on a frequentonce a week or more often with the same children or intensivefour days in one month or more with the same children; or overnight basis. Regulated activity also covers fostering and childcare (but not adoption). A "child" is defined as anyone under 18, except in employment settings, where the age limit is 16.
In addition, there are a number of defined "office holders" position, where a prescribed post-holder is deemed as engaging in regulated activity irrespective of their actual contact with vulnerable groups. This list includes such people as a Local Authority Director of Children's Services, trustees of children's charities and school governors.Full list is found in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 Schedule 4, paragraphs 4(1) and 8(1)
No distinction is made between paid and voluntary work.
What regulated activity means The duties and responsibilities under regulated activity where an organisation is providing the activity are that:
A barred individual must not undertake regulated activity To undertake regulated activity an individual must be ISA-registered An employer must not engage in regulated activity a barred person or a person who is not ISA-registered An employer must check that a prospective employee who is in regulated activity is ISA-registered Personal and family relationships are not covered
Exemptions from ISA registration
Although it is a serious criminal offence to engage in regulated activity while barred from doing so, not all individuals who engage in regulated activity are required to register with the ISA. A prominent example are those involved in "domestic employment". Individuals are not required to register with the ISA where they are employed by parents to work with their children or where a vulnerable adult arranges for individuals to provide care in their own homes. Examples of domestic employment would include groups such as private tutors when employed directly by parents or individuals involved in the direct payments scheme. The policy on this was confirmed in the Government's Response to the ISA scheme Consultation Document in May 2008., Formal Government Response to the ISA scheme Consultation Document 30 May 2008 p. 52
Controlled activity
Controlled activity is a much more limited area of work and is tightly defined under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act.Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 Section 21 & 22 Controlled activity applies to:
Ancillary support workers in National Health Service and Further Education settings (e.g. cleaner, caretaker, catering staff, receptionist) with frequent or intensive contact with children or vulnerable adults. Those working for specified organisations (e.g. a local authority) with frequent access to sensitive records about children.
It is mandatory to check the ISA registration status of individuals in controlled activity; although it is possible to employ a barred person, providing sufficient safeguards have been put in place.
Vetting and Barring Scheme, the original structure and design The ISA was to have functioned as the decision-making element of the new Vetting and Barring Scheme, with the application process and monitoring functions being run by the Criminal Records Bureau.CRB to administer the new Vetting and Barring Scheme, CRB website It largely retains these functions but from 2012 will be entirely merged with the CRB. Once operational the Vetting and Barring Scheme as originally designed would have required all those engaged in regulated or controlled activity to register and have their registration status checked. It would not have been possible to 'opt-out' of the Scheme and there would have been criminal offences for non-compliance on both the employer and employee.Vetting and Barring Scheme registration halted15 June 2010 These now only apply in the case where a barred individual seeks or attains work.
Those successful in the original application process would have been provided with a unique reference number and employers would have had to verify potential employee's membership before allowing them to commence their duties; via a free online check.United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant Published 14 August 2019 Estimates at the time stated that the number who would have been required to register would have been approximately 11.3 million people (or a quarter of the adult population). This was criticised in the press in 2009 as a proposal to create the most intrusive database ever created in a democracy.A quarter of adults to face 'anti-paedophile' tests.The Daily Telegraph, 26 June 2008 As described later these initial proposals were then withdrawn after this press hostility, led to the government creation of the Singleton Review (2009) and a subsequent review led by Eileen Munro (2010).
The cost of registration was originally set at £64 per person except for volunteers for whom it would have been free of charge.Cost for applying to register with the ISA Scheme , ISA website These fees were also withdrawn when the requirement to register was abandoned in 2010. At this point the ISA barred list was reshaped to be simply a list of those barred, accessible to employers and certain others, more akin to its predecessor 'list 99'.
The definition of volunteer remains that used by the CRB: "a volunteer is a person who is engaged in any activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travelling and other approved out-of-pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or groups) other than or in addition to close relatives" -.What is the CRB’s definition of a "Volunteer"?, CRB website