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It's not a black and white issue
The new scheme to protect vulnerable groups has caused a fair amount of consternation. However, those behind it argue that it will cut bureaucracy and lead to a more robust system of protecting children and other vulnerable groups.
The Scottish Government's new membership scheme to protect vulnerable groups is being introduced in February 2011. It will replace and improve upon the current disclosure arrangements for people who work with children and protected adults - either paid or in a voluntary capacity. But how will the scheme affect our registered teachers and others in the education system?
It will help to ensure that those who have regular contact with children through paid and unpaid work do not have a known history of abusive or harmful behaviour. And it will remove much of the bureaucracy that plagues the current disclosure system.
Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early Years, said: "Since Disclosure Scotland was established, a great deal has been learned about what works well and what could work better. The current Enhanced Disclosure provides a point in time snapshot of an individual's criminal history. An employer would not find out if - say - a week after the disclosure, the individual committed a crime. For this reason, many employers choose to recheck employees and volunteers on a regular basis. Also, if a person has more than one job (either paid or unpaid) they may be asked to apply for a disclosure for each post. This is very time consuming, expensive, frustrating and inefficient.
"The PVG Scheme will continue to collect vetting information about an individual after the initial disclosure check is made. This will help to ensure that new information indicating that they might have become unsuitable to work with children can be acted upon promptly. Vetting information is conviction information retrieved from criminal justice systems and non-conviction information held by the police that is considered relevant. "For example, if Disclosure Scotland receives vetting information about a teacher who is a PVG Scheme member that suggests they pose a risk to children, its new Protection Unit will consider this information and determine, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, whether the individual should be placed under consideration for listing on the list of those who are barred from working with children. If a person is placed under consideration for listing, the employer will be informed as will GTC Scotland.
"As well as strengthening protection, the PVG Scheme will reduce bureaucracy. In future, a teacher who is a member of the PVG Scheme will no longer need to complete a detailed application form every time a new check is required. This will also apply if, for example, the teacher also has another job or volunteers elsewhere. Instead, the employer (and voluntary group) would be able to request a PVG Scheme Record Update at a cost of £18 (free of charge for volunteers in the voluntary sector). In the vast majority of cases, this will be all that the employer will need to confirm that there is no new vetting information about the scheme member. This is because more than 90 per cent of current enhanced disclosures contain no new criminal history information.
"One year after the PVG Scheme commences, it is expected new, secure, online accounts will become available for scheme members and registered bodies, making it even easier and quicker for checks to be carried out by the employer." It is expected that the PVG Scheme will be phased in over four years to minimise the administrative burden on employers. During the first year after it commences, it will be available to people coming into a teaching post or other role where they will work with children or people who move posts. It is expected to take a further three years to phase in the rest of the teaching workforce.
The role of GTC Scotland
The role of GTC Scotland has been liaising closely with the Scottish Government to ensure that we have procedures in place to make sure anyone going onto the register is also a scheme member. We are currently developing our procedures so that anyone applying for registration will either have to be a scheme member or will be put into the scheme as part of the registration process.
John Adams, the Teacher Registration Manager who is managing the project, said: "The project is in the early stages, but as things develop we will keep teachers informed through Teaching Scotland, e-bulletins and our website. The project team is also working with other stakeholders - in particular the Scottish Government.