Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Miscellaneous and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 5) Order 2009

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 reforms arrangements for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from harm, or the risk of harm, by employees whose work gives them significant access to these groups. The new arrangements that it introduces replace those provided for under the Protection of Children Act 1999, the Care Standards Act 2000, the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 and the Education Act 2002. Together, the provisions in this order support the commencement of the full range of barring under the new scheme and the repeal of existing barring schemes, bringing about a further milestone in the transition to the new scheme. The order amends some details of the scope of regulated activity to improve the practical working of the vetting and barring scheme. These provisions are needed so that the Independent Safeguarding Authority—or the ISA, as it is often called—can start the full range of barring under the new scheme on 12 October 2009. The order slightly narrows the scope of the definition of "relevant child care premises" to make it consistent with the general intention of the Act not to impose requirements on people in their own homes. An amendment is also made to bring child-minding premises in Wales within the definition. The order enables the Secretary of State to refer unfinished List 99 cases to the ISA. That will close off, in a timely fashion, part of the transitional process. Articles 25 and 26 of the order add certain named categories of people to the list of office-holders set out in Schedule 4 to the Act. The order commences provisions that are inserted into the Police Act 1997 relating to the information that is to be provided to employers who check whether a person is on an ISA barred list. The order also modifies them to ensure that information about any person on the current barred lists is also provided to employers. This last step is an essential part of managing a safe transition from the current schemes to the new scheme. A Criminal Records Bureau disclosure must still show the barred status of any individual who is still on the current barred lists after 12 October 2009. The order re-enacts some provisions from the current transitional period in order to ensure that the present safeguards remain in place for as long as necessary. Permanent replacement provisions will then come into force over the next year. These measures would enact previously agreed policy. Following consultation, we have included one additional provision on the addition of school governing body associate members and clerks, and local authority chief executives, to the scope of regulated activity. Finally, the order corrects two minor omissions in the prescribed criteria regulations which set out the auto barring offences. This order forms a key part of the transition to the new vetting and barring scheme, and I commend it to the Committee.