Child protection is a relatively new term but the practice behind it is not. The youth work sector has always had policies and practice to safeguard the young people who take part in youth work activities.
Prior to Lord Cullen's Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School most of the policies and practice were not contained in written documents.
Since The Police Act 1997 there has been a progressive movement towards formalised policy and practice documents throughout the youth work sector.
The Central Registered Body in Scotland was established in 2002 by the Scottish Executive to provide free Disclosures (police checks) for volunteers in the voluntary sector working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 (POCSA) allows Scottish Ministers to maintain a list of individuals who are considered to be unsuitable to work with children and young people. (The Disqualified from Working with Children List).
Click here to view the POCSA leaflet for voluntary organisations.
PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS VETTING AND BARRING SCHEME SCOTLAND
The Scottish Government is taking forward a comprehensive implementation programme to deliver the provisions outlined in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) (Scotland) Act 2007.
The PVG Act will deliver a robust vetting and barring scheme that will safeguard children and protected adults by keeping people who would harm them out of caring positions. It will also deliver a fair and consistent system that will be easier for people to understand and use.
A new electronic scheme record system that will be continuously updated will be introduced. This will make it easier to identify people who are (or who become) unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups and deliver an additional tool to help employers make safe recruitment decisions. In addition, the scheme will help to reduce bureaucracy as it will no longer be necessary to undergo a long and complicated disclosure process each time a person changes posts.
The detail of the new vetting barring scheme will be developed through secondary legislation during the course of 2007/08. Consultation on the secondary legislation is expected to begin towards the end of 2007. More details about the consultation and associated activities will be available shortly.
For more information and regular updates, visit http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pvglegislation
UPDATED – AUGUST 2007
For further information or support contact Margaret McLeod mmcleod@youthlink.co.uk