General Optical Council

Vetting and Barring scheme update

From next Summer, many GOC registrants will need to become members of the Government’s new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS).

Any employee engaged in ‘regulated activity’ (including students carrying out these activities under supervision) will need to become a scheme member. Initially, the requirement will apply to new entrants to the workforce (including students) and anyone changing employer. The Scheme will be fully rolled out over a five-year period. Employees will have a legal duty to register with the VBS and employers will have a statutory duty to check their status. These legal duties will come into force in November 2010.

The start date for applications to join the Scheme has been delayed, having originally been planned to commence this Autumn. However, ‘barring provisions’ under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 will still apply from October 2009. These will make it a criminal offence for a barred individual to seek or undertake work with vulnerable groups; and for an employer knowingly to engage barred individuals to work or volunteer with the vulnerable.

The Scheme will apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A similar scheme will apply in Scotland, though the date for implementation is yet to be confirmed.

The GOC will share information about registrants who may pose a threat to children and/or vulnerable groups, and will receive information from the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), or Scottish ministers about their decisions in relation to registrants.

How does it affect me?

• Registrants covered by the Scheme will need to join from Summer 2010
• Scheme members will need to notify the GOC of their Scheme number
• Employers will be responsible for checking that their staff are members of the Scheme

For more information, visit the Independent Safeguarding Authority website.
 

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