Who needs to register with the vetting and barring scheme

The new government has announced its aim to remodel the vetting and barring scheme. The scheme, which was due to start on 26 July 2010, has been halted to allow the government to remodel the scheme. However, the regulations that were introduced in October 2009 will continue to apply.

The safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009

The safeguarding regulations, introduced in October 2009, still apply. They state that:

a person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer with those groups
an organisation which knowingly employs someone who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law
if your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)

Contact the Independent Safeguarding Authority - ISA website

Find out if you need to register with the Vetting and Barring Scheme

You’ll need to register with the Vetting and Barring Scheme if you have frequent contact with children or vulnerable adults. This could be for paid or voluntary work. Frequent contact normally means once a week or more, although it is once a month or more for certain health or personal care services.

Your employer will tell you when you need to apply. You'll be breaking the law if you apply for work or get a job without being registered for the scheme or if you are on a barred list.

Activities covered by the scheme: some examples

If you frequently work or volunteer in these categories, you’ll need to register with the scheme (this is not a full list):

teaching and training (for example teachers, football coaches)
care and supervision (for example probation officers, childminders)
advice or guidance (for example careers advisors, Childline advisors)
treatment or therapy (for example doctors, therapists, St John’s Ambulance volunteers)
transportation (for example school bus drivers, ambulance drivers)

Settings covered by the scheme

If you frequently work or volunteer in these places, you’ll need to register with the scheme:

schools
childcare premises (for example nurseries, playgroups)
children’s homes
children’s hospitals
children’s detention centres
residential care homes
nursing homes

Jobs or positions covered by the scheme

People with certain roles in organisations that deal with children or vulnerable adults will need to register with the vetting and barring scheme. These positions include:

school governors
a director for social care and children in the Health & Social Care Board
Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland

When you don’t need to register

You won’t need to join if your contact with children or vulnerable adults is:

Personal or family arrangements

The scheme doesn’t cover personal or family relationships. Taking your child and their friends to play football in the park is a personal arrangement, and isn’t covered by the scheme.

Private arrangements

If you are employed privately, as a babysitter, carer or tutor, you don't need to register with the scheme as it is a private arrangement. But your employer can ask if you're registered with the scheme and may prefer that you are.

If you’re on a ‘barred list’ (a list of people considered a risk to children or vulnerable adults) you’re unable to do this type of work. It doesn’t matter how it was arranged.

Situations not covered by the scheme

You don’t need to register with the vetting and barring scheme if you:

work with 16 and 17 year olds in your workplace
work at mixed age sports and leisure facilities
work with children or vulnerable adults by chance (for example an adult brings their child to your aerobics class)
work at a college for adults
visit a friend or relative in a children’s home or residential care or nursing home
work in a shop or leisure facility where children or vulnerable adults might be customers (for example ice cream vans, fairgrounds, holiday camps)
are visiting from overseas with a group and are working or caring only for that group
are under 16
are aged 16-18 and volunteer as part of your school work (you may have to register if you work with vulnerable groups for your vocational studies)

If you work with under 16 year olds in your workplace then you won’t have to register by law, but your employer may ask you to do so. They'll decide who should register.

Remember, you can register if you think you might need to - you do not need to wait until you are actually doing the work.