Protecting Children - Securing their Safety

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Background

Present Position in Scotland

Availability of Information

1. Under existing arrangements, criminal record checks are available through the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) mainly to employers in the statutory sector who are appointing people to positions which will give them substantial access to children. As such posit ions are exceptions to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA) all convictions, including spent convictions are disclosed. A number of voluntary childcare organisations may also ask for checks to be made on those they intend to appoint to such positions, either as paid employees or volunteers.

2. The need for increased access to criminal record checks has been widely acknowledged for some time and Part V of the Police Act 1997 was designed to address this need. Part V provides for three types of checks... The first of these will be a criminal conviction certificate which will be issued to any individual who applies to the SCRO and will give details of any convictions which are unspent under the ROA. The second will be a criminal record certificate which will contain details of any spent and unspent convictions and will be available only for those occupations which are exemptions to the ROA. The employer or voluntary organisation requesting the check will have to register with SCRO and countersign the application. A copy of the certificate will go to the individual and the organisation requiring the check. The third is an enhanced criminal record certificate which will show any spent and unspent convictions arid other information from local police records where this is considered relevant to the post being sought Again the application will have to be countersigned and a copy will go to both the individual and the organisation. Initially these enhanced certificates will only be available for those in positions which involve regularly caring for training. supervising or those in positions which involve children, but they will be extended to those involved with vulnerable adults as soon after that as possible

3 Implementation of Part V was delayed while a review was carried out but Is now well underway. In England and Wales. the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is being set up to issue the new certificates and is expected to be operational by July 2001. In Scotland, the already well established SCRO is being expanded to cope with the increased demand for certificates under Part V, which will not be available before the end of 2000.

4. Increased access to criminal record checks under Part V was designed to be self-financing with those requesting checks paying a fee to cover the cost. Organisations requiring checks would also pay to register with SCRO. But this is now a devolved matter and it is appropriate for Scottish Ministers to take a fresh look at it. In recognition of the concern about the impact Part V will have on voluntary organisations and volunteers, a Review Group has been set up to consider the Issues.

5. In Scotland, criminal record checks etc are carried out by local authorities on applicants for registration, and certain others, under Part X of the Children Act 1989 (childminders and daycare providers) and under section 61 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (operators arid management employees of residential establishments which accommodate persons for purposes of the Act).

6. In addition, the Scottish Executive Education Department holds a list (known as List 1R) of those who have been struck off, or refused admission to the Register of the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Updates to the list are distributed regularly to all list holders (mainly Education Authorities and other employers) by the Department. Being placed on the list Is almost always the result of a criminal conviction.

The Case for Change

7. So there are some safeguards in place to prevent unsuitable adults from working with children. They are, however, largely based on convictions and related information. There is no source of Information on misconduct that does not lead to criminal charges or convictions (other than the names on list 1R which have not resulted from a criminal conviction). This is provided elsewhere In Great Britain by the Consultancy Index run by the Department of Health for England and Wales (See further below for details of this system).

8 In the report of the public inquiry into the events at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996 Lord Cullen made the following recommendation:

"27. There should be a system for the accreditation to a national body of clubs and groups voluntarily attended by children and young persons under 16 years of age for their recreation, education or development, the main purpose of which would be to ensure that there are adequate checks on the suitability of leaders and workers who have substantial unsupervised access to them."

Lord Cullen envisaged a body to which clubs and groups could become accredited on a voluntary basis One role for this body would be to provide a service analogous to that provided by the Consultancy Index in England and Wales. A similar recommendation was made in the Children's Safeguards Review undertaken by Roger Kent.

9. A consultation paper on Proposals for a National System of Accreditation and Vetting Information Regarding Adults Working with children and Young People was issued to a wide range of organisations in February 1 997 In this paper the then Government indicated its intentions to establish an index of adults deemed unsuitable to work with children and this intention was reiterated in the Government's response to the Kent Report In November 1998 Hence Scottish Ministers undertook in the Programme for Government to establish such an index. This reflects the spirit of Lord Cullen's recommendation for the accreditation system

about which lie said, "the main purpose would be to ensure that there are adequate checks on the suitability of leaders and workers who have substantial unsupervised access to them" It is Intended that, considering the potentially serious consequences for an individual of being placed on the index, this should be the direct responsibility of Scottish Ministers (rather than a function of an independent body as suggested in the Cullen Report) given their accountability to the Scottish Parliament and, ultimately, to the electorate Responsibility will similarly be placed at Ministerial level elsewhere In the United Kingdom.

10. The recently published position paper on Regulation of Early Education and Childcare: the Way Aheadannounced the intention to prepare and distribute a checklist for parents to raise awareness about the kinds of questions that they should have in mind if they wish to satisfy themselves about the standing of any particular organisation or group A draft of this checklist is at Annex A.

Proposal (1) - the checklist attached as Annex A will be published as a stand-alone document. Comments are invited on the usefulness of the document as are any suggestions aimed at improving the text.

11. Following the Cullen and Kent Reports there is thus already considerable support for the establishment of an Index, subject to suitable safeguards for the rights of those included or considered for inclusion on it. There is also widespread agreement that any Index put in place in Scotland must work effectively with any similar system elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Against this background, this consultation paper sets out more detailed proposals on which further comment is sought prior to legislation.

12 It should be seen in the context of the range of efforts being made to improve child protection, for example, through improved criminal record checks, the establishment of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care to regulate (among other things) childcare and the guidance issued to professionals on Protecting Children: A Shared Responsibility - Guidance on Inter-Agency Co-Operation.

Position Elsewhere in united Kingdom England and Wales

13. In England and Wales the Department of Health at present provides a non-statutory service for checking whether someone is an adult unsuitable to work with children through its Consultancy Index. This is not open to all voluntary organisations to consult It does not cover those unsuitable for working with vulnerable adults with a learning disability. It holds the name of some 1000 individuals referred from local authorities and voluntary organisations in England and Wales.

14. The Protection of Children Act 1999 Is one of a number of steps aimed at putting arrangements for checking adults' suitability for working with children on a more formal, statutory basis. The Act gives a statutory basis for the Department of Health's Consultancy Index and amends the existing statutory basis for the similar List 99 which the Department for Education and Employment operates in relation to teachers. It will also provide a "one stop shop" through the forthcoming Criminal Records Bureau and SCRO for checking both these lists and criminal record information. This is to allow employers easily to check the background of applicants for posts involving work with children. The main effects of the Act are to:

• Place the Department of Health Consultancy Index lists on a statutory basis and create a right of appeal to a new tribunal.
• Amend Sect ion 2 1 8 of the Education Reform Act 1 988 to allow for inclusion on List 99 of those not considered fit for work involving regular contact with children. This means that greater protection will be afforded in relation to posts in the education sector as prospective employees will be checked against a more comprehensive list. List 99 will be amended to differentiate between those people not considered fit to work with children and others on List 99 for other reasons, such as fraud or dishonesty. It will also create a right of appeal to a new tribunal.
• Amend Part V of the Police Act I 997 to enable the Criminal Records Bureau and SCRO to disclose information about people who are included on the lists noted above along with criminal records for a specified range of positions.
• Require childcare organisations to have checks carried out and not to employ anyone on either the Department of Health Consultancy Index or List 99
• Allow the Secretary of State provisionally to include an individual on the list pending a final determination.

It is intended that the Act will come unto operation in July 2000. Although primarily concerned with children there is provision for the Act to be extended in due course to those working with vulnerable adults. It should be noted however, that the Criminal Records Bureau will not conic into operation until the latter part of 2001 and one stop shop arrangements may not be available from the outset

Northern Ireland

15 In Northern Ireland, the Pre-Employment Consultancy Service (PECS) was established in 1983. This followed the inquiry into Children's Homes and Hostels occasioned by cases of abuse at Kincora Boys' Hostel. Under PECS prospective employers can check the suitability of those applying to work with children, or adults with a learning disability. PECS is operated by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for Northern Ireland. It is compiled from information provided by voluntary and statutory organisations in relation to workers (paid employees and volunteers) who have been dismissed, transferred to other work, or who have resigned in circumstances where it is considered that they posed a risk to children or adults with learning disabilities. The decision to add a person's name to the PECS Register is made by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for Northern Ireland, in consultation with its Social Services Inspectorate. Any person referred is told about the referral and given an opportunity to make representations to the Department as to why his or her name should not be added to the register. Where a decision is made to add a person's name to the register, he or she is informed. At present there are 16 names on the Register. In 1999 there were over 20,000 requests for checks of the Register.

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