All posts by Safeguarding Matters

Ofsted Consultation on School Inspections

Background to Safeguarding, Education, Reviews,

Ofsted has launched a consultation on the inspection of maintained schools and academies in England, following proposals announced in the 2011 Education Bill.  This Bill aims to re-focus school inspection on  the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom, backed by leadership and good discipline in schools. The consultation seeks views on how Ofsted will implement these changes, including when Ofsted should inspect.

Outstanding schools will no longer be subject to routine inspections unless concerns about their performance are identified, and the consultation asks for views on the factors inspectors should consider when assessing whether an inspection is needed. In addition, it asks for views on plans to carry out more frequent inspections of weaker schools and on the circumstances in which schools may request an inspection.   Ofsted will also be testing the new inspection arrangements in pilot inspections, with a view to introducing the new system in January 2012, subject to the successful passage of the Education Bill. Continue reading Ofsted Consultation on School Inspections →

Freedoms Bill committee stage

Background to Safeguarding, Parliamentary Affairs, , , ,

The Protection of Freedoms Bill Committee will hear oral evidence on Tuesday 22 and Thursday 24 March, these meetings are open to the public. The Committee will then continue to consider the Bill every Tuesday and Thursday from that point concluding on Tuesday 17 May.  The relevant times for the safeguarding regime aspects of the Bill are below: Continue reading Freedoms Bill committee stage →

CEOP lead paedophile ring shutdown

In the News, Key Cases, Sex Offender profiles, Sport & Leisure, Voluntary,

Details are emerging about the full extent of the largest internet paedophile ring yet discovered as an international team led from the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) shuts it down.  After a three-year investigation it has now been made public that the global forum had 70,000 followers at its height, leading to 4,000 intelligence reports being sent to police across 30 countries.

‘Operation Rescue’ has so far identified 670 suspects and 230 abused children.    In the UK, the 240 those suspects include police officers, teachers, karate teacherand a woman.To date, 33 have been convicted, including John McMurdo, a scout leader from Plymouth. Another forum user was Stephen Palmer, 54, of Birkenhead, who shared abuse images with contacts in the US. A third man, 46-year-old Colin Hoey Brown of Bromsgrove, was jailed for making and distributing almost 1,000 images. Continue reading CEOP lead paedophile ring shutdown →

CRB fee increase

Background to Safeguarding, Parliamentary Affairs, , ,

CRB has announced an £8 increase  for Enhanced Disclosures to £44.00, effective from 6th April 2011 .  The Standard CRB Check  (£26.00) and  ISA Adult First check  (£6.00) remain at existing prices and CRB checks will remain free of charge for volunteers .

The justification for the increase is a direct link to the Government’s decision to scale back the Vetting and Barring Scheme andwill fund the retained elements of the Scheme without the income which would have been raised through the £64 fee for registration.   This will cover the ISA’s budgeted costs of £17.1m per year – with the remaining money covering the other retained elements of the Scheme and contribute towards the development of the current criminal records regime, including portability.

Scale of CRB checks on Volunteers

Background to Safeguarding, Reviews, Voluntary, , ,

The Daily Mail reported on a press release by the Manifesto Club about the scale of volunteer vetting.  “Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that almost a million checks were made last year, a six-fold increase since the CRB was launched in 2002.”

 The Club, which campaigns against over-regulation, claims that many local authorities – even Tory ones – are still demanding ‘blanket’ vetting of volunteers.   Josie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club, said: ‘The  Government has made some fine statements criticising over-use  of the CRB checks but these haven’t affected anything on the ground.  ‘CRB checking is leading to the collapse of valuable community services and the loss of the best and most generous volunteers in our communities.’

A Home Office spokesman said the CRB was working to restore ‘proportionality’ to its service and added: ‘We are also clear that there are occasions that these checks are vital to protect public safety.’

Daily Mail Article

Sunita Mason to conduct NI review

In the News, Reviews, , ,

Sunita Mason, the Government’s Independent Advisor for Criminality Information Management, is reviewing the Criminal Records Regime in Northern Ireland and is seeking stakeholders opinions. 

The Northern Ireland Criminal Records Regime (NICRR) review will examine the use of the criminal record disclosure system for employment vetting in Northern Ireland to determine whether this is proportionate ,while still protecting the public and vulnerable groups.

 It will consider specific  aspects of AccessNI’s work ,  how criminal records are currently managed in Northern Ireland and consider whether there are any improvements that could be made.  The consultation will be open until 13 May.

Terms of Reference

Submissions to Consultation

Public access to Sentencing Records

Justice, Ministerial Announcements, Parliamentary Affairs, Sex Offender profiles, , ,

Policing Minister Nick Herbert has indicated that details of sentences handed down to criminals could be published online in future, making public access to sentencing records much easier. 

He said he hoped to build on the success of the new crime-mapping website which shows how many offences have been committed in particular streets:  “This website is a strong example of this government’s commitment to greater transparency in public services, giving communities the information they need to hold their local police to account.” Continue reading Public access to Sentencing Records →

Sport challenges safeguarding changes

Children, Faith, Parliamentary Affairs, Reviews, Sport & Leisure, Voluntary, , , , , , , ,

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 →

Second Reading of Freedoms Bill

Background to Safeguarding, Parliamentary Affairs

The second reading of the Protection of Freedoms Bill will take place on Tuesday 1 March in the House of Commons. This is the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill. The Government minister, spokesperson or MP responsible for the Bill opens the second reading debate. The official Opposition spokesperson then responds with their views on the Bill.  Key points from the debate will be added here.

Continue reading Second Reading of Freedoms Bill →

Children leaving custody at risk

Children, Justice,

Barnardo’s has published a report highlighting that children as young as 13 are being released from custody into unsafe or unsuitable accommodation, which can lead to a cycle of homelessness and reoffending. The research found that supported accommodation could provide savings of more than £67,000 per child over a three year period. Continue reading Children leaving custody at risk →

Your chance to be heard

Children, Education, Employers, Faith, Health, Justice, Parliamentary Affairs, Reviews, Social Care, Sport & Leisure, Voluntary, Vulnerable Adults

The Protection of Freedoms Bill is the first time that a new element called a “Public Reading Stage” will be introduced.  It means that members of the public can comment directly on clauses of the Bill. These comments should contribute to the points made by MPs across all parties during the debates and committee stages – so it is an important opportunity.  

The website can be found here – http://publicreadingstage.cabinetoffice.gov.uk  – do add your perspectives with practical examples from your sector as this a very complex area which has been subject to  sweeping misrepresentation in the media.  Since only very low level stakeholder engagement is likely this is the best opportunity to amend some aspects of the legislation such as the availability of disclosures, scope of regulated activity and the level of guidance available. 

Also register with us so that you receive our briefing papers on each of these topics and more.

Expert briefing – London 14th April

Background to Safeguarding, Sex Offender profiles, , , , , ,

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 →

CCPAS consider proposed changes ‘are unacceptable’

Children, Faith, , , , ,

 The chief executive of the  Churches Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS), Simon Bass, has highlighted that there are major loopholes in the Protection of Freedoms Bill that will be exploited by those determined to abuse children and vulnerable adults.  He said that the Government’s plans to scale back the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) “will make it easier, not harder, for unscrupulous sexual predators to abuse in churches.”

The VBS Remodelling Review document recognises that removing barring arrange­ments for some activities could give rise to an increase in safeguarding risks.   He was concerned  that the review gave Sunday-school helpers as an example of where criminal records checks would not be required .  He explained that a convicted abuser who is banned from working in a ‘regulated activity’, such as teaching, may, without any checks, altern­atively gain access to children through becoming a Sunday-school helper, with potentially devastating consequences.  Mr Bass said

“these changes show that the Government is prepared to tolerate a level of risk in churches that we — with long and painful experience of dealing with abusers in church — find unaccept­able. We think it inevitable that potential predators will see children in churches as soft targets and will act accordingly.”

He agreed with other commentators that pro­posals in the Freedom Bill to allow the sharing of CRB checks between employers was “eminently sensible”.

Changes to Sex Offenders Register

In the News, Key Cases, Ministerial Announcements, Sex Offender profiles, , , , ,

The Government response to the Supreme Court ruling about the human rights of sex offenders is to make the minimum possible changes to the law in order to comply with the ruling.  These are summarised below. Continue reading Changes to Sex Offenders Register →

Sex offenders register challenged

In the News, Key Cases, Sex Offender profiles, ,

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that  lifelong monitoring on the UK’s sex offenders register is a disproportionate interference in the offender’s family lives and have granted two convicted sex offenders the right to challenge their inclusion on it. The case paves the way for other offenders to seek to have their details removed.

Offenders are placed on the register for life if they are sentenced to 30 months or more in jail,  and once released  have to notify police about where they are living and what name they are using. There are some 32,000 registered sex offenders in England and Wales and approximately half of them received sentences leading to lifelong monitoring. Continue reading Sex offenders register challenged →

Judicial review of unlawful child restraint

Children, Justice, Reviews, Vulnerable Adults,

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (Crae) has applied for a judicial review of the refusal by the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, to identify and contact children who may have been unlawfully restrained in privately run secure training centres.  

Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act,  all prison and probation officers would have been checked and monitored for their ongoing suitablity for the role as prisoners and people on probation would have been considered as being ‘vulnerable  adults’.  It remains to be clarified whether this promised level of protection will be compromised under the halving of the numbers defined as doing ‘regulated activity’ under the Protection of Freedoms Bill. Continue reading Judicial review of unlawful child restraint →

NHS fails elderly vulnerable adults

Children, Sex Offender profiles, Vulnerable Adults,

The NHS is failing to treat elderly patients in England with care, dignity and respect, an official report says.  Of nearly 9,000 complaints made to the Health Ombudsman last year, 18% were about the care of older people. In total, it accepted 226 cases for investigation – twice as many as for all the other age groups combined. Continue reading NHS fails elderly vulnerable adults →