ISA report revises rules and reins in its scope

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Following a request from the Government to review the degree of contact with children who should trigger the requirement to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), the Chair of the ISA, Sir Roger Singleton, released his report, drawing the Line yesterday.

To those who have been critical of the scope of the vetting and barring scheme, it will come as some surprise that the scheme has been relaxed – removing the need for an estimated 2m people to register. Is this a decision made with the best interests of children in mind, or is it a politically motivated decision designed to make the highly criticized ISA appear more workable?

Are the new ISA rules “disproportionate to risk”?

Seven main representative organizations for schools and college leaders have written to Ed Balls requesting changes to the vetting and barring scheme stating the new rules are ‘bureaucratic and will not guarantee safety’. This is not the first time government has been criticized over the scheme, leading to it considering the complaints in a recent review.

The signatories claim that the requirement for volunteers to register with the ISA mean there will be a reduction in the support from parents and student helpers in schools, help that Head, Julie Robinson, vice-chairman of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, says is genuinely needed.

With the review out imminently it will be interesting to see how the DCSF and the ISA reacts having been on the receiving end of such broad and public criticism. There is no doubt the system needed an over-haul but has the pendulum swung too far and now risks deterring genuine volunteers?