October 2006
Volunteering England welcomes the Supporting Vulnerable Groups Bill and believes that it will lead to a more consistent approach to determining who is suitable to work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults than the current local arrangements. The proposed scheme will also reduce the current need for repeated or duplicate CRB checks which many people experience as bureaucratic.
Volunteering England has been assured throughout the development of the proposed scheme that
- who should be vetted will be determined by the role they have with children or vulnerable adults, regardless of employment status
- the scheme will provide a moving picture of an individual, so if information that their behaviour is likely to harm children or vulnerable adults comes to light their employer and/or volunteer-involving organisation will immediately be informed, so that the organisation can take steps to remove the opportunity for that person to do harm.
Volunteering England recognises and celebrates the way in which voluntary action (delivered by volunteers) provides a wide variety of services to children and vulnerable adults. This includes
- listening to children read in schools,
- running Brownie packs,
- mentoring young people at risk of offending,
- breastfeeding support groups for new mothers
- contact centres for families who have separated
- befriending schemes for people with mental health problems or learning disabilities,
- shopping for elderly people in their homes in the community.
There is some concern in the public mind that volunteers can create risk, and so we welcome the inclusion of volunteers in this scheme, as not to include them may mean that some organisations are reluctant to involve volunteers, because they are perceived as less ‘safe’ than paid staff. However, Volunteering England, along with other organisations involved in developing the scheme, recognise that the scheme is one tool in the management of risk, which will also include references and induction, and ongoing training, management, support and supervision.
There have also been reports in the press that volunteers are currently not CRB checked. This is not the case, as many organisations already CRB check volunteers who will be involved with children and vulnerable adults. What this Bill will do is clarify which roles should be checked, rather than leaving it to individual organisations which have previously taken differing approaches. However, many of these organisations are small and poorly resourced and there needs to be clear information targeted at these organisations to ensure that they understand and comply with this new requirement.
Volunteering England has recently published ‘On the safe side: Risk, risk management and volunteering’ which explores and describes how organisations which involve volunteers manage risk, both for the volunteers, and for the people who benefit from their volunteering.
Volunteering England is the national support agency for volunteering in all its diversity. Funded by the Office for the Third Sector, under a new five year strategic funding agreement, it works strategically across the public, private and voluntary sectors to raise the profile of volunteering as a powerful force for change, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community. We enable volunteering in England to be represented by a strong and coherent voice, as well as providing an easily identifiable and accessible brand for volunteering, nationally and locally. Volunteering England has good knowledge and expertise re the diversity of volunteering in the health and social care sector, developed through a series of Department of Health funded projects.
