Church Links
Churches Supporting Communities Across the Borough of Walsall
The Requirements are changing
Up until January 2009 if a paid or unpaid member of staff was required to have a CRB check, their name would be checked on three separate ‘barred’ lists maintained by three government departments. This has now changed.
The three current lists are being replaced by the creation of two new barred lists administered by the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) rather than several government departments. Checks of these lists will be made as part of an Enhanced CRB.
The eligibility criteria for Enhanced CRB checks will be extended to include anyone working in a regulated position.
A regulated position is defined as:
- Any activity which involves close contact with children or vulnerable adults and is of a specified nature (e.g. Sunday School, Children’s Clubs, Youth Groups etc)
- Any activity allowing contact with children or vulnerable adults and is in a specified place (e.g. Church, a Church worker’s home etc.).
- Certain defined positions of responsibility (e.g. Vicar, Curate, Church Warden Deacon, Child Protection Officer etc).
The ISA Scheme is based on two barred lists, a list of people barred from working with children and a list of people barred from working with vulnerable adults.
People working regularly with Children or Vulnerable adults must have an enhanced CRB check. This will register them with the ISA. If their name appears on an applicable ISA barred list, they will not get an Enhanced CRB certificate and should not be allowed to work with either children or vulnerable adults depending on which position they have applied for and which barred list they appear on.
An ISA check does not replace a CRB check. An ISA check will reveal if the person is registered and able to work with children and/or vulnerable adults.
Whilst a person can be registered with the ISA as someone who is suitable to work with these groups, they could still have a criminal record which, if you knew about it, would make them an unsuitable candidate for the actual job, e.g. Driver of the church minibus — an ISA check online would show that the person is registered to work with children/vulnerable adults but without a CRB check you would not know that the person had a conviction for dangerous driving.
Employers need to know:
- You must not employ anyone (paid or unpaid) to carry out regulated activity who is not ISA-registered — if you do you are breaking the law
- You’ll always need to check a person’s ISA status before employing them — you cannot take their word for it and you cannot have them in post, even supervised, before you know the outcome of that check
- You’ll still need to carry out CRB checks on some employees, if they will be working with children or vulnerable adults
- Once you’ve registered your interest in an individual as their employer, you’ll be contacted if they are subsequently barred.
Employees need to know:
- If you want to work with children or vulnerable adults, you’ll have to apply to become registered with the ISA
- * to apply — who pays this will be up to you and your employer (unless you’re a volunteer)
- You’ll need proof of your identity
- You’ll need to apply before you start working
- But you’ll only need to apply once, and pay once.
Timetable
From 26 July 2010
- Individuals able to apply for ISA registration. This will give them a unique personal reference number that employers can use to check that an employee does not appear on a barred list.
November 2010
- It will be a legal requirement for individuals to register with the ISA.
