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Monday, 28 March 2005
Update on the Protection of
Children (Scotland) Act
The recent information sessions held in
Forfar and Arbroath were a great success and we thank you for your
support.
There were a few queries raised which
we could not answer on the night. These have been directed to:
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Louise Holmes
Compliance, Advice & Guidance Officer
Central Register Body in Scotland
Unit 55,
Stirling Enterprise Park
Stirling FK7 7RP
Tel:
01786 849761
Fax: (01786) 849767
Email: LHolmes@crbs.org.uk
http://www.crbs.org.uk
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We hope the answers
are of help to you and if you need further clarification then the
Central Registration Body in Scotland (CRBS) should be able to help.
Question 1.
Who in the club will be ultimately
responsible?
Ultimate
responsibility - Do you mean for doing the checks or if a person who
is Disqualified from Working with Children is allowed into an
organisation?
With
regards to liability - if a person, who is fully listed, is
recruited and not removed from a child care position (as defined in
Schedule 2 of PoCSA) Section 20 of PoCSA allows for individuals who
exercise control within an organisation to be proceeded against. If
an organisation is prosecuted under the Act, the courts will decide
who is responsible.
With
regards to doing the checks - if there are
new
staff/volunteers being appointed to work in a
child care
position
(as defined in schedule 2 of PoCSA) then the organisation/club/group
needs to meet the requirements of the Act. How checks are accessed
and administered will need to be the organisations/clubs/groups
decision. It could be through their affiliated body, through an
Intermediary Body (for example a Volunteer Centre or they can
register directly with the CRBS.
Again if
an organisation fails to comply with the requirements of PoCSA the
courts would make the decision as to who is ultimately responsible.
PoCSA – Protection of
Children (Scotland) Act
Question 2.
It is very common in many sports for
various parents to help by taking kids in cars to the games/matches.
There is no regularity to this; it just depends on what parents are
available at the time. Of these people who needs to be disclosed??
(It will be a huge problem if all of them need to be disclosed - as
do they have to turn people away if they are not disclosed and
therefore not go to matches/ games if there are not enough disclosed
parents??)
You will
need to define if the parents fall into the category of a child care
position (as defined in schedule 2 of PoCSA)
the
relevant section would be
(d) whose
normal duties include caring for, training, supervising or being in
sole charge of children.
From
the description that you have given I would not deem that the
parents meet the criteria of a
child care
position
- therefore you would not be able to access a Standard or Enhanced
Disclosure Certificate.
I would
however, stress that it is the organisations decision to determine
if positions meet the criteria of a child care position and I would
recommend that you read through schedule 2 and to also ensure your
overall child protection framework encourages good practice for the
above detailed situation.
Question3.
What happens when under 18's are
training/playing/competing along with adults?? Does everyone in the
club need to be disclosed as in some of theses cases all the members
take responsibility over the under 18's??
You cannot
check the adults as they would not be deemed to be in a child care
position.
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