Vetting and barring – the headline changes

The Freedoms Bill is now published and Part 5 relates to the major changes to the ISA and CRB requirements. It is complex and difficult to read. The explanatory notes offer some assistance and are worth a review.

In short if the Bill is passed in its current form, the registration requirement will be scrapped; the definition of Regulated Activity will be altered significantly; ‘controlled activity’ will be abolished; the ISA will be able to review a barring decision at any time and the duty to refer will remain, as will the criminal sanction for failing to refer.

The CRB process is updated considerably. CRB results will be sent to individuals first and not to the employer or the umbrella body. The test for what information the police should include is upped from “might be relevant” to “reasonably believes to be relevant” and the individual will have the right to request a review of that information. Also, CRB portability will become the norm, but for a fee.

There are some other changes and more detail to add, but these are the key issues which will change extensively the vetting and barring landscape in the future.