Paper 9/1

The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (PVG)

CapacityBuildingin the Voluntary Sector

Background

1.The introduction of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 will deliver the principal recommendation of the Bichard Inquiry Report, published in June 2004, which was undertaken following the murder of two schoolgirls in Soham.
2.This recommendation called for a new registration system for all those who work with children and protected adults.

3.The PVG scheme will ensure:

  • those who have a history of behaviour that indicates they are unsuitable to work with children or protected adults are prevented from doing so and those who become unsuitable are quickly removed from such work;
  • employers have an improved tool to assess suitability and make safe and informed recruitment and retention decisions;
  • the Scheme is fair, consistent and easy for people to understand and use;
  • the underlying processes for the PVG Act are as streamlined, responsive and efficient as possible; and
  • the scheme dovetails with arrangements in the rest of the UK to ensure that cross-border loopholes do not develop which could be exploited by those who would harm children and protected adults.

CapacityBuilding

4.Central Registered Body in Scotland has been in discussion with the Scottish Government about the support needs of organisations in moving forward towards the implementation of PVG.

5.CRBS has put forward a number of proposals to take forward a programme of capacity building to support the achievement of the policy objectives of the Act and this paper outlines one of CRBS’s key proposals.

6.Based on experience of the introduction of:-
● the Police Act 1997, Pt V,
● the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003
it is clear that the level and scope of capacity building required for the introduction of PVG cannot be attained without engaging with key stakeholders throughout, and at all levels within, the not for profit sector.

Timescales

7.The CRBS proposal is thata three phase capacity building programme should be put in place: -

Phase 1 (Preparatory phase) – Commencing autumn 2008 – spring 2009 or at the passage of secondary legislation whichever occurs sooner;

Phase 2 – (Build phase) - Commencing spring 2009 or at the passage of secondary legislation whichever occurs sooner – to the commencement of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. This would be the main period for delivering detailed information regarding PVG implementation;

Phase 3 – (Consolidation phase) - Commencing with the implementation of PVG and going forward to the completion of retrospective checking or the end of the financial year 2014 – 2015 whichever occurs first. This phase consolidates stage 2 training and prepares organisations for the introduction of retrospective checking, if pursued.

8.Realisticallythese phases will be subject to some flexibilityso they should be regarded as indicative at the moment.

Establish an Advisory Panel of Experienced Trainers

9.To take forward the three phase capacity building programmeCRBS has proposed to the Scottish Government the creation of an Advisory Panel of Experienced Trainers.

10.CRBS feels that the successful implementation of the new legislation must take account of the nature of the not for profit sector and thespecial challenges it presents.

11.Work to be undertaken during phases 2 & 3 needs to be informed by an advisory group drawn from a wide cross section of national agencies, network bodies, specialist agencies, smaller voluntary organisations, local authorities and regulators.

12.For this reason CRBS believes that an advisory group needs to be formed to commence work this autumn on the process for taking forward planning for capacity building during phases 2 & 3.

13.It is proposed that:

  • An advisory panel of experienced trainers representing national agencies, network bodies, specialist agencies, smaller voluntary organisations, local authorities and regulators be formed;

14.Representative organisations from the not for profit sector are invited to consider whether they would wish to nominate an experienced trainer to participate in the work of this advisory panel.

Purpose of the Advisory Panel

15.It is proposed that the advisory panel would develop the understanding & commitment of voluntary sector to:-

  • The principles of clarity, consistency & proportionality in the delivery of capacity building;
  • Determine and agree the objectives of capacity building in phases 2 & 3;
  • Agree the content for capacity training in phases 2 & 3 using guidance material produced by the Guidance on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 Advisory Group;
  • Agree method(s) of delivery;
  • Agree ownership of the capacity building product;
  • Agree timescales for capacity building within organisations;
  • Agree to use established networks to deliver capacity building through co-ordinatedmanagement by CRBS.

Time commitment

16.In phase 1 nominated trainer representatives would be expected to commit to four meetings between autumn 2008 – spring 2008 to achieve the above objectives.

17. A plan for phase 2 would be subject to discussion within the group once formed.

Membership of the Advisory Panel

18.An advisory panel needs to be sufficiently representative to undertake the task without being too large as to be unwieldy. It is requested that representatives are nominated from across all the main sectors using the disclosure scheme (e.g. arts, faith, protected adults, sport and youth work). In addition, places on the advisory panel will need to be made available for representatives of other key stakeholders such as CVS, VCs.

Response

19.Those VSIG members interested in nominating an experienced trainer to participate in the work of the advisory panel are requested to make this known by the time of the next VSIG meeting.

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