Unit 11 Safeguarding Adults and Promoting Independence
P4: Outline key legislation and regulation which govern safeguarding adults work.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act: The purpose is to restrict contact between children and vulnerable adults and those who might do them harm. The barring aspects of the Act came into force in October 2009. The Government is currently reviewing the implementation timetable for other parts of the Act, such as the provisions requiring employees to become ‘ISA-registered’.
While the 2006 Act itself is very complex, its key principles are straightforward. They are as follows:
• Unsuitable persons should be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults
• Employers should have a straightforward means of checking that a person is not barred from working with children and vulnerable adults
• Suitability checks should not be one-offs: they should be an element of ongoing assessment of suitability to catch those who commit wrongs following a suitability check.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 was brought in to support people who have been convicted of a criminal offence, and who have not offended since, in gaining employment. Under the Act convictions become ‘spent’ or ignored after a specified rehabilitation period. This means that after the specified time has passed, an ex-offender would not normally be obliged to mention their criminal conviction when applying for jobs, obtaining insurance or during any involvement with criminal proceedings. All cautions and convictions eventually become ‘spent’, with the exception of prison sentences over two and a half years.
The rehabilitation period will depend on the length of sentence given. It is not related to the offence committed. In the case of prison sentences, the rehabilitation period is based upon the overall sentence length and not the time served in custody.
Sentence Rehabilitation period People aged 17 or under when convicted People aged 18 or over when convicted
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act: The purpose is to restrict contact between children and vulnerable adults and those who might do them harm. The barring aspects of the Act came into force in October 2009. The Government is currently reviewing the implementation timetable for other parts of the Act, such as the provisions requiring employees to become ‘ISA-registered’.
While the 2006 Act itself is very complex, its key principles are straightforward. They are as follows:
• Unsuitable persons should be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults
• Employers should have a straightforward means of checking that a person is not barred from working with children and vulnerable adults
• Suitability checks should not be one-offs: they should be an element of ongoing assessment of suitability to catch those who commit wrongs following a suitability check.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 was brought in to support people who have been convicted of a criminal offence, and who have not offended since, in gaining employment. Under the Act convictions become ‘spent’ or ignored after a specified rehabilitation period. This means that after the specified time has passed, an ex-offender would not normally be obliged to mention their criminal conviction when applying for jobs, obtaining insurance or during any involvement with criminal proceedings. All cautions and convictions eventually become ‘spent’, with the exception of prison sentences over two and a half years.
The rehabilitation period will depend on the length of sentence given. It is not related to the offence committed. In the case of prison sentences, the rehabilitation period is based upon the overall sentence length and not the time served in custody.
Sentence Rehabilitation period People aged 17 or under when convicted People aged 18 or over when convicted