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Key contacts

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CRB Disclosure Unit
Room AG10/11
Essex County Council
County Hall
Chelmsford
Essex County Council
CM1 1LX

Telephone: 0845 603 7633

The Independent Safeguarding Authority

In response to the Bichard Inquiry into the Soham Murders, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was set up to manage the Vetting and Barring Scheme introduced as part of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

The Vetting and Barring Scheme will require the registration of employees and volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults, and require the creation of two lists of individuals who are barred from working with either vulnerable adults or children.

The role of the ISA is to ensure that individuals barred from working with vulnerable adults and children are not able to do so. The ISA manages the lists of barred individuals, and ensures they are up to date, as well as advising on new barring decisions, weighing up information from a range of sources when deciding whether an individual should be barred from working with vulnerable adults, children or both.

Since October 2009, the following safeguarding regulations have been in place, relating to the ISA’s work:

  • It is a criminal offence for anyone barred from working with vulnerable adults or children to apply for a job that involves these groups
  • Employers who knowingly employ an individual who is barred from working with vulnerable adults and children are also breaking the law
  • If an organisation working with vulnerable adults or children dismisses a member of staff or volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or would have done so if the individual had not left, they must inform the Independent Safeguarding Authority

On 15 June 2010, the coalition government announced that the Vetting and Barring Scheme would be subject to an immediate review. In order to deliver on this, the Vetting and Barring Scheme has been halted, pending review.

Although the registration element of the scheme is now suspended, the ISA continues to manage the barred lists, and the safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009 are still in effect. As part of the CRB checking process, Essex Disclosure Service will check with the ISA in order to ensure that individuals do not appear on either list.

For further information relating to the ISA and the Vetting and Barring Scheme, please contact Essex Disclosure Service.