Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007
Voluntary Sector Issues Group (VSIG) 4 November 2008
Conference Room 2, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh
Attendees:
Moira Oliphant (Chair), Safer Children Stronger Families, Scottish Government
Lesley Fraser, Safer Children, Stronger Families, Scottish Government (part of meeting)
Donna McLean, Safer Children, Stronger Families, Scottish Government
Dave McLeod, Adult Care and Support, Health Directorate, Scottish Government
Dougie Arneil, Scottish Sports Association
Peter Brawley, Scottish Personal Assistant Employers Network
Fiona Campbell, Voluntary Arts Scotland
Richard Crosse, CrossReach
Jim Duffy, Scottish Scouts Association
Nancy Fancott, SCVO
Judith Gillespie, Scottish Parent Teacher Council
Leah Granat, Scottish Council of Jewish Communities
John Harris, CRBS
Andrew Jackson, WRVS
Jackie McCaig, The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
Jennifer McCreanor, Church of Scotland
Fionna Miskelly, Church of Scotland
Karen Rennie, Apex Scotland
Sam Sinclair, Community Care Providers Scotland
Welcome, Introductions and Apologies:
1. The Chair welcomed members to the 11th meeting of the Voluntary Sector Issues Group and introduced Lesley Fraser to the group. Lesley has replaced Claire Monaghan as the Deputy Director of Safer Children, Stronger Families. Apologies were received from Gina Nowak, Alex Cole-Hamilton, Jan Murray and David Roy. Karen Rennie from Apex Scotland is attending on behalf of Brian Robertson and Sam Sinclair from Community Care Providers Scotland is attending on behalf of Kirsten Gooday.
2. The Chair informed the group that David Roy and Donna McLean will be moving to new posts within the Scottish Government. David is moving on promotion to Teachers division and Donna is moving to join the Rural Schools Bill Team.
3. Lesley Fraser introduced herself to the group and gave a brief outline of her role and duties.
Minutes from last meeting:
4. The minutes of the last meeting were agreed subject to minor amendments from Health colleagues.
Matters Arising:
5. Cross Border Issues: At the previous meeting we discussed the issue of working cross border, for example. a football linesman who is not in regulated work in Scotland but who would be considered to be in regulated activity in England. The Scottish Government is considering the issues raised with colleagues in the UK Government.
6. Forms: At the previous meeting the ease of use of the new forms under PVG was raised. The Chair informed members that there would be a project dealing with the issue of forms. There will be a number of forms required for the new PVG scheme and the ease of use is important. However, there is also a substantial amount of information needed on these forms and every effort will be made to keep the forms easy to use. It is anticipated that a group will be set up next year to consider all the forms required. It is expected that the majority of forms will be sent electronically. However, there will also be a hard copy format for organisations who don’t have access to the internet. The Chair invited interest in participation in the forms group.
7. Charity Trustees: over the last few meetings the issue of charity trustee being in regulated work has been discussed. The Ministerial response to the consultation makes clear that changes will be made to the scope of regulated work. However, there is only a power to modify schedules 2 and 3 in the PVG Act, not to undertake a complete review.
8. A suggestion was made to include in regulated work only those trustees who are in charge of appointing/dismissing people in regulated work positions. The majority of the group said that it should not be about whether the individual is a trustee but about the role they have in the charity/organisation. This would provide a level playing field for both charity organisations and non charity organisations.
9. Another point of view was that trustees should only be in regulated work if they have other duties bringing them into the scope of regulated work in any event. The general conclusion was that there shouldn’t be a blanket coverage for trustee and that we either include roles or remove charity trustees all together. The Chair asked members for their views on the possibility of a barred person becoming a charity trustee. The group agreed that it is a possibility, however; the main issue is about the risk or lack of risk posed.
Update on PVG:
10. The Ministerial Response was published in October and an updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) is now available on our website. The Agency will now not go-live in 2009. It is likely to be in 2010. On the issue of police information flows we have a secondee from ACPOS who is taking forward work with police forces on police intelligence and disclosure. The Guidance Advisory Group has now met a couple of times and it is expected that some of the draft guidance will be available in 2009. However, it cannot be finalised until and if Parliament approves the secondary legislation regulations. There will be consultation on the major draft regulations in 2009.
Capacity Building Support:
11. John Harris gave an update on progress. There have been a number of events as part of the ongoing work of the programme. The Experienced Trainers Group meeting was held in September and another one will be held soon. It is intended that these meetings will run through to the end of the year then begin again in January until March.
Host Parents:
12. The general view is that children staying with host parents can be a potentially risky situation unless good practice is put in place and enhanced disclosures sought for the host parents. Some organisations do seek enhanced disclosures for host parents who are in a child care position. The Chair asked members for any responses to the questions in the tabled paper. The Scouts Association has a policy for checking host parents and they state that there has not been any resistance about checking them. They have factored in the extra time needed to carry out a check.
13. School exchanges are family to family. CRBS carried out a check on 10 -15 organisations and none of them had a policy on disclosure. It was left to the Head teacher/parents to decide whether disclosure was necessary.
Thresholds for Barring:
14. KathleenMcInulty will be giving a presentation on criteria for barring at the next meeting of VSIG.
AOCB:
15. Fees: In response to a question raised, the broad policy has been set out in the Ministerial Response. The fee level will be dependent on a range of factors including volumetrics such as numbers of scheme members.
Date of next meeting:
16. The dates of the next three meetings have yet to be arranged. An e-mail will be issued requesting suitable dates. The next meeting will be the beginning of February.
1