CRB and Vetting & Barring Scheme
Safe Recruitment of Staff and Volunteers
It is important that clubs and counties make sure that those working with children are suitable to do so. The Guidelines for Safeguarding Children in Golf contain guidance on the safe recruitment and golf clubs and counties are strongly recommended to follow the advice, which is available at www.childreningolf.org. The England Golf Compliance Team may also offer advice. Call 0121 456 2088.
VETTING AND BARRING SCHEME UPDATE
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (the Act) was set to introduce the Vetting and Barring Scheme in England and Wales from July this year, which would have required that volunteers and staff working with children registered with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to be part of the Scheme. However, following an announcement on Tuesday 15 June by the Home Secretary, the Scheme’s introduction has been suspended, pending the outcome of a comprehensive review, which is likely to result in remodelling and significant scaling back of the scope of the scheme.
The scope and timescales of the review are not yet known, but EWGA will monitor the situation and provide updates as soon as they are available.
What should clubs and counties do?
1) They should continue to use CRB checks and the other vetting procedures recommended in the Guidelines for Safeguarding Children in Golf to assess whether their volunteers and staff working with children are suitable to do so.
The EWGA is a registered body with the CRB and therefore the means by which volunteers and staff in golf obtain CRB disclosures. To obtain an application form email michele.spencer@englishwomensgolf.org or call 0121 456 2088.
From July 2010, a new CRB application form will be introduced, and the current forms will be obsolete. Please make sure that if you are planning to apply for a disclosure and have already have an application form, you return this to EWGA by the beginning of July. Forms may be returned and the applicant be required to complete a new form if they are not received by the CRB before the deadline.
2) It is essential that clubs and counties refer concerns about staff and volunteers’ behaviour towards children to the EWGA and EGU. In October 2009, a duty for organisations to refer information to the ISA was introduced by the Act, and this legal duty remains in force. This means that if your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
The Guidelines for Safeguarding Children in Golf contain guidance on reporting concerns and this process should be followed so that the Case Management Group and EWGA/EGU may support you in your concerns and referring the matter to the Independent Safeguarding Authority, if necessary, in line with your legal duty.
Ensure that you have appropriate and formal disciplinary procedures in place that relate to all members, volunteers and staff.
