The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2009 (“the 2009 Order”) by revoking the provisions in the 2009 Order which provided that certain people should not be treated as vulnerable adults or as providing regulated activity to children or to vulnerable adults, in light of the changes the definitions of vulnerable adults and regulated activity relating to children and regulated activity relating to vulnerable adults in sections 64, 65 and 66 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9) (“the 2012 Act”).

This Order also amends the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Regulated Activity, Miscellaneous and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 5) Order 2009 (“the 2009 Commencement Order”) in light of the changes made to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (“the 2006” Act) by Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the 2012 Act. The 2009 Commencement Order is mainly based around three transitional periods, which were dependent on the phased implementation of section 24 of the 2006 Act. Section 69 of the 2012 Act repeals section 24 of the 2006 Act and therefore the transitional periods in the 2009 Commencement Order can no longer operate. This Order therefore repeals all of the provisions in the 2009 Commencement Order which were dependent on those transitional periods.

This Order makes two new transitional provisions. Article 7 (which is based on article 21 of the 2009 Commencement Order) enables the Independent Safeguarding Authority to provide information to a person, who has a legitimate interest in knowing the information, as to whether a particular person is barred from engaging in regulated activity relating to children or vulnerable adults, on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 or section 81 of the Care Standards Act 2000, or is subject to a direction under section 142 of the Education Act 2002. This provision will have effect until section 72 of the 2012 Act, insofar as it inserts the barred list check under section 30A into the 2006 Act, is brought into force. Articles 8 and 9 (which are based on articles 14 and 15 of the 2009 Commencement Order) ensure that the “ISA Adult First” system, which operates under section 113E of the Police Act 1997, and allows certain employers of people seeking to work with vulnerable adults to request barred list checks before receiving enhanced criminal record certificates, continues until the barred list check under section 30A of the 2006 Act is introduced.