Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
Child Protection and Safeguarding
Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 places a statutory duty on further education institutions to promote the safety and welfare of children receiving education or training at their institution.
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 places additional requirements on colleges and regulated activity providers in respect of child protection and the welfare of vulnerable adults, including an obligation to refer relevant information to the Independent Safeguarding Authority. Regulations require colleges to carry out specified checks on teaching staff and keep a proper record of those checks.
The Government is proposing to scale back the existing vetting and barring/criminal records regime to 'more common-sense levels' and their proposals are set out in the Protection of Freedoms Bill.
Related Links
Legislation
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
Guidance
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education - https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-04217-2006
Safer Practice, safer learning (vulnerable adults) -
http://shop.niace.org.uk/safer-practice.html
Please note that some aspects of both these sets of guidance are out of date and you are advised to supplement them with additional information by following the links to the organisations below:
Organisations
The Independent Safeguarding Authority - http://www.isa.homeoffice.gov.uk
The Criminal Records Bureau - http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/crb/
LSIS - http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/safeguarding
DfE - http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/safeguarding
