ISA

Independent Safeguarding Authority

The government announced on 1 April 2007 that the new Independent Safeguarding Authority will ‘go live’ from October 2009 and that it will cost £64 for staff to register. All staff working directly with children will be required to register.

The authority has been established to create a single system of identifying and preventing unsuitable people working with children and vulnerable adults. It will replace existing protection lists and it is anticipated that it will cover 11.3 million people workers and volunteers.

Its remit will cover all staff in specified workplaces, which includes schools. The authority will have a panel of independent experts who will make decisions on barring staff from working. We are seeking further details on how this and any appeals process will operate.

The legislation places the obligation of registration and payment on the individual employee. However in most cases we are anticipating that the employer will meet the cost of registration.

UNISON has expressed surprise at the cost of registration and the impact this could have, particularly for lower paid staff. We believe it is unfair that there is no banded payment structure based on salary. In many cases it will be those least able to pay that will have to pay the registration fee themselves, particularly in the PVI sector.

We believe it may create recruitment difficulties in some sectors as job applicants will require ISA registration before they can apply for a job in a registered setting.

There is no registration fee for volunteers and the payment is a one-off lifetime registration fee.

For more information please see the UNISON professional services page.

http://www.unison.org.uk/professionalservices/

http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B4283.pdf