ISA - Independent Safeguarding Authority has been created to help prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable adults or children. ISA manage the POVA list.
The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been created to help prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable adults or children.
The ISA Role
Following the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley (a school caretaker) in 2003, the Bichard Inquiry was commissioned. One of the issues this Inquiry looked at was the way employers recruit people to work with children and vulnerable adults.
It asked whether the way employers check the background of job applicants is reliable enough. It also asked whether employers should be responsible for deciding whether a job applicant can be safely employed.
The inquiry’s recommendations led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which recognised the need for a single agency to vet all individuals who want to work or volunteer with vulnerable people.
The ISA was created to fulfil this role across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (Scotland is developing its own similar system, which will work closely with the ISA.)
How Does this affect Employers ?
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 defines regulated activities involving working with children or vulnerable adults. Broadly, this is any activity that involves contact with children or vulnerable adults, or work in specific places such as schools, care homes, or hospitals.
Any person undertaking a regulated activity must be registered on the ISA list. This will be a legal requirement. It will be the employer’s responsibility to enrol a new worker onto the list, or to check an entry of someone who claims they are already on the list.
How does this work ?
ISA have set up the Vetting and Barring Scheme - For information about how this works:
