Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

Summary

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 was passed in response to the Bichard Inquiry into the Soham murders. It created the Vetting and Barring Scheme and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to keep unsuitable people out of work with children and vulnerable adults. The barring authority maintains two barred lists — the children's barred list and the adults' barred list — and it is a criminal offence for a barred person to seek or engage in 'regulated activity' and for an employer knowingly to allow them to do so. Employers and other regulated-activity providers must make barred-list checks and have a duty to refer to the scheme anyone they remove on safeguarding grounds. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 later merged the ISA with the Criminal Records Bureau to form the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and significantly narrowed the scope of the scheme.

Key Points

• Two barred lists — the children's barred list and the adults' barred list, maintained by the DBS (s.2)
• 'Regulated activity' — defined activities with children or vulnerable adults for which barred-list checks apply
• Criminal offence for a barred person to engage in, or seek to engage in, regulated activity (s.7)
• Criminal offence for an employer knowingly to allow a barred person to engage in regulated activity
• Duty on regulated-activity providers and personnel suppliers to refer safeguarding concerns to the DBS (s.35)
• Right of appeal to the Upper Tribunal against inclusion on a barred list

Parts & Sections

Amendments History