Tag Archives: Safeguarding

Review of vulnerable adult protection in NI

There will be a review of vulnerable adult protection in Northern Ireland.

Edwin Poots,The Northern Ireland Health Minister is looking into creating new policy to ensure the protection of vulnerable adults in care.  His announcement of a review of the system came after the number of people alleging abuse against vulnerable adults was revealed to be 1,184 referrals to health trusts in 2009-2010, the last year for which there is accurate data.  Of these 1,184 referrals almost two-thirds, 750, were considered serious enough for a protection plan to be put in place.

Responsibility for child protection falls to the department of health and the five health and social care trusts who are individually responsible for providing residential care services to children and young people within their areas.

There were also 1,271 child protection referrals for the quarter ending 31 March 2011, which was almost 20% higher compared with both the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2010. Continue reading Review of vulnerable adult protection in NI

Bill to build awareness of abuse of elderly people

A Bill to promote awareness of abuse of elderly people  entitled ‘Support and Protection for Elderly People and Adults at Risk of Abuse Bill 2010-11’ has been introduced under the Ten Minute Rule motion by Nigel Dodd MP.

It is expected to scheduled to have its Second Reading debate on 21 October 2011.  It’s objectives are:

  •  to promote awareness of abuse of elderly people and adults at risk,
  • to promote training on how to recognise and respond to such abuse amongst those who are likely to encounter abuse in the course of their work,
  • to promote greater awareness and understanding of the rights of victims of abuse amongst agencies with responsibilities for providing, arranging, commissioning, monitoring and inspecting care services,
  • to promote the development of local strategies for preventing abuse of elderly people and adults at risk and for ensuring that victims are assisted in recovering from the effects of abuse’

PQ follows up NSPCC Safeguarding concerns

    Lord Hunt asked a Parliamentary Question about ” what response the Government  have made to the concerns of the National Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children that the proposed changes to child protection measures could put children at risk”  

Sport challenges safeguarding changes

An alliance of Sports Governing Bodies are challenging the new definition of Regulated Activity that is emerging from study of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. Some of the proposed details are open to interpretation and will have significant impact on established practice and policies.   For instance :

  • Regulated Activity will no longer include any supervised teaching, training or instruction. In a sporting context, this requires clear definition. as the environment is so different to a school.  The Faith sector are also likely to be unhappy with the implications of this change.
  • Current proposals are that only the applicant will receive the CRB disclosure. Clarity is needed on how National Sports Governing Bodies, and other professional regulators will receive this
  • There will be a charge for the updating service. How this will work for volunteers and whether they will still be able to get checks for free is not clear.

Continue reading Sport challenges safeguarding changes

Expert briefing – London 14th April

Following a number of enquiries, we are organising a briefing event in London on Thursday, 14th April with Simon Morrison, previously Head of Communications for the VBS , Mark Williams-Thomas,  a criminologist who is frequently interviewed in the media about child protection issues and Liz Morrison who led the VBS roadshow programme.  Continue reading Expert briefing – London 14th April

CRB & ISA to merge into new body

An article in the Telegraph pre-empts the announcement about the results of the criminal records regime review by Sunita Mason and the parallel one into the Vetting & Barring Scheme. Headline: “An anti-paedophile vetting scheme that would have involved nine million adults will be ripped up next week in a major reworking of how background checks are conducted.” Continue reading CRB & ISA to merge into new body

Lords debate exploitation of children

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, raised five areas of concern about children being groomed for sexual exploitation. His question in the House of Lords was  what steps are being taken to ensure the safety of children, especially of children in the care of local authorities, from being groomed for sexual exploitation. Continue reading Lords debate exploitation of children

Munro report criticises Ofsted approach

The interim report on child protection by Eileen Munro has been published today. It signals a new approach which will focus on helping children rather than on regulations, inspections and procedures.  The areas for reform in the interim report include:

Drawing the Line – Sir Roger Singleton’s Review

Folowing the media attention on the ‘author’s story’, Sir Roger Singleton was invited to review aspects of the definition of Regulated Activity and its impact on the scope of the Vetting & Barring Scheme. His recommendations in Drawing the Line Dec 09 reduced the number of people who would need to be members of the scheme to 9 million