Vetting and Barring Scheme
Vetting and Barring Scheme Registration on Hold
Theresa May, Secretary of State for the Home Department, has announced the Government’s intention to remodel the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) back to proportionate, ‘common sense’ levels. Until this remodelling has taken place, the Government has decided to maintain those aspects of the new Scheme which are already in place, but not to introduce further elements.
As a result, the ISA registration phase of the scheme has now been stopped and therefore will not launch on 26 July 2010.
Although the full details and scope of this remodel are still to be finalised, the following will
continue:
• Existing requirements concerning CRB will remain in place, and those entitled to such checks can continue to apply for them;
• Since January 2009, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been making
• independent barring decisions. It will continue to maintain two constantly updated lists, one for those barred from working with children, the other for those barred from working with vulnerable adults;
• Employers are still legally obliged to refer information to the ISA if they have moved from their role with children or removed an individual because they have harmed or there is a risk of harm to a member of a vulnerable group.
The scope and timing of the remodel are expected to be finalised by the Government shortly and The FA will communicate any updates as soon as more information is available.
2. Business as usual
The existing FA requirements for criminal record checks will continue to apply. The roll out of CRB checks for those who are working in roles with children e.g. coaches, managers, welfare officers, referees, first aiders and people who drive on behalf of the club should continue. The priority is for those who have not yet had a check to complete one.
FA policy continues, for clubs to have a Welfare Officer, meeting requirements of an accepted FA CRB check, with the Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officer Workshop completed.
NB PL and FL clubs do not complete the Welfare Officer workshop as this is for grassroots clubs. Premier League and Football League clubs attend the appropriate, equivalent, tailored training through their respective Leagues.
3. New application form
The CRB has recently provided Registered Bodies e.g. The FA CRB Unit, Premier League and some professional Clubs, with an initial stock of new (purple) application forms in readiness for the planned launch of the ISA registration phase in July, and although this phase of the VBS has now been halted, the CRB will still launch the new application form as originally planned.
The CRB will only use those data fields which are required to process a CRB check. Any other fields that have been filled in that relate to ISA registration will be ignored.
The FA CRB Unit will be distributing the new forms shortly to CFA Welfare Officers and FL Clubs. The PL will distribute to their Clubs as appropriate.
This new form must be used for all CRB applications from 1st July 2010. These cannot be photocopied as they have unique bar codes. Those applications made on the new form will be held unprocessed by the CRB until 26 July 2010, at which point they will be processed in date received order on their new systems
From 1st July 2010, start using the new purple form.
It should be noted there is currently a limited supply of the new purple forms. The CRB will make more new purple forms available to The FA CRB Unit after 26th July. We will then distribute these accordingly.
4. Guidance on completion of the new application form
The FA is printing a pack for distribution, which includes the following documentation:
• New Guidance Notes for the Club Welfare Officer, Football League CPOs and County FA Document Verifiers
• New Guidance Notes for Applicants
• An Identification Document (ID) Form, to record evidence of identity documents.
In order to ensure this information reaches the CWO who is in post for the 2010 – 2011 Season we will have a four stage process to disseminating information to Clubs:
I. Stage 1 – The FA will email week beginning 21st June all Club Secretaries and CWO for the 2009 – 2010 Season advising them of the need to use the new CRB Form as of 1st July;
informing them that Packs with new CRB forms and guidance will be sent to all Clubs via the
CWO once they have affiliated for the 2010 – 2011 season
II. Stage 2 – week beginning 28th June TMG mail out the packs with the new CRB Forms to all current compliant Clubs for 2010-2011
III. Stage 3 – at a date to be agreed, a second data cut to be taken and TMG mail out to
additional Clubs who have become compliant by this date
IV. Stage 4 –at a date to be agreed, TMG will then send remaining pre-paid packs to CFAs for local distribution as and when the remainder of Clubs become compliant; ideally this will be managed by the CFAWO and or other staff assisting with the affiliation process in each
County.
We appreciate that for County FA’s affiliation is a very busy time of year and that many will still be awaiting responses from some Clubs and in the process of inputting affiliations from others. The staged approach to communicating the information about the new form to Clubs, allows for flexibility and as much accuracy as possible, to get this information in the right persons hands at each Club!
Implications for other areas of the CFAs work
CFA WOs should liaise with colleagues e.g. RDO’s, CDM’s, FDO’s etc to orientate them to the use of the new CRB Application Forms. Counties should plan for the costs as detailed below.
Football League
A similar process distribution process is being agreed with the Football League for their Clubs.
FA Cohorts e.g. Team Operations, HR, Football Development etc
An orientation session will be held in relation to the new CRB Application Form.
5. Cost
The cost for the administration of the CRB checks is now £15. This price includes VAT at the current rate and therefore could be subject to change. Volunteer checks will therefore cost £15 and those who are paid will cost £51.
Please note, The FA does not make a profit from the CRB process, the £15 covers the current administration costs of processing the CRB check and is comparable to the costs charged by other organisations.
We are also working towards a new electronic application process which should reduce the cost of an application to around £10. We will let you know as soon as this service is available, hopefully by the end of 2010.
6. Reminder of Important Actions
• Dispose of any white CRB Disclosure Application Forms now
• Start using the new purple Application Forms from 1st July 2010
• Make sure everyone in your Club who is working in roles with children e.g. Coaches,
• Managers, Referees, first aiders, Club Welfare Officers and those who drive regularly for
• the Club, have an ‘Accepted’ FA CRB
• Use The FA Online Safeguarding Service to manage your records
7. Need further guidance or help?
Contact The FA CRB Unit. Tel: 0845 210 8080 or Email: FAchecks@TheFA.com
• Visit www.TheFA.com/footballsafe for FAQs
• Visit www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk
Thank you for your understanding and support with this changing landscape. Sue Law Head of Equality and Child Protection