Child Protection

Child Protection in Sport

The Sussex County Sports Partnership (SCSP) believes that the welfare and safety of children and young people is crucial whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual identity.

To minimise this risk, the SCSP is committed to working in partnership with all agencies to ensure that information and training opportunities are available for all staff and volunteers to guide them in best practice when working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

The SCSP has attained the Advanced Standard for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport. These are national standards set by Sport England and the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU)

www.thecpsu.org.uk

Vetting and Barring Scheme

The new scheme will be responsible for making decisions to bar those people deemed unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults.

There will be sports specific guidance available in September but for now the keys points are:

Registering with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will be mandatory from November 2010 for those starting to carry out regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults. The existing paid or volunteer workforce registrations will be phased over a 5 year period
A CRB disclosure will continue to be required
Volunteers will be able to register free of charge; employees will pay a one off fee of £64 which includes an enhanced CRB disclosure

For a full briefing from the CPSU click here

Sir Roger Singleton has now completed his review of the ‘intensity’ and ‘frequency’ of contact with vulnerable people that should require an individual to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. The aim of the review was to ensure that the Vetting and Barring Scheme strikes the right balance between offering protection without being overly burdensome. The Government has accepted Sir Roger’s recommendations in full as follows:

Recommendation 1:
Mutually agreed and responsible arrangements made between parents and friends for the care of their children will not be affected by the Vetting and Barring Scheme.
Recommendation 2:
Where organisations (such as schools, clubs or groups) make the decisions as to which adults should work with children then the requirement to register should apply, subject to the frequent and intensive contact provisions.
Recommendation 3:
The frequent contact test should be met if the work with children takes place once a week or more. The intensive contact test should be met if the work takes place on 4 days per month or more, or overnight.
Recommendation 4:
Individuals who go into different schools or equivalent settings to work with different groups of children, will not be required to register unless their contact with the same children is frequent or intensive.
Recommendation 5:
The minimum registration age at which young people who engage in regulated activity as part of their continuing education should be reviewed.
Recommendation 6:
Overseas visitors bringing their own groups of children to the UK (e.g. to international camps or the Olympics) will have a three months exemption from the requirement to register.
Recommendation 7:
Exchange visits, lasting less than 28 days, where overseas parents accept the responsibility for the selection of the host family, should be regarded as private arrangements and would not require registration
Recommendation 8:
Government will consider the position of some self-employed health care practitioners and whether a duty should be placed on them to register with the scheme.
Recommendation 9:
Government will review the continuing need for ‘Controlled Activity’.
Recommendation 10:
Government will review both the statutory requirements and its advice in relation to the continuing need for CRB disclosures for safeguarding purposes

What this means for sport and recreation

The key change is that the threshold for ‘frequent’ engagement is now once per week, rather than once a month. This may reduce the number of people required to register. The implications of other recommendations, such as those relating to young people engaging in regulated activity as part of their education are not yet fully known. It appears that the relationship between CRB checks and the vetting and barring scheme will also be reviewed.

CCPR will continue to update members with regard to this issue, and the full report entitled ‘Drawing the line’ can be read here.

For further information on child protection issues, please visit the following sections within our website: