Safeguarding, under the media spotlight in 2011

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The last 12 months have proved to be another busy and challenging time for the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

The importance of safeguarding the most vulnerable people in our society was particularly high on the media agenda in 2011. This was largely down to stories such as the abuse at Winterbourne View, and figures released by the NHS information centre, which revealed that 96,000 vulnerable adults were allegedly abused in the last year.

With safeguarding under the media spotlight, we were able to target both the national and trade media to remind employers of their legal duty to refer cases of this nature to the ISA. If an organisation dismisses or removes a member of staff/volunteer from working with children and/or vulnerable adults because they have harmed (or put at risk of harm) a child or vulnerable adult, they must make a referral to the ISA. We also increased our stakeholder activity; running workshops with employers and other organisations all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Feedback from those events has been exceptional.

Each month, the ISA receives an average of 500 referrals from employers, local authorities or regulatory bodies. The ISA Quality Assurance framework has ensured that our barring decisions are fair and consistent. From a performance perspective, the ISA has continued to exceed targets. We aimed to have 75 per cent of all cases closed with 110 working days. We successfully closed 86 per cent of cases within this timeframe. We also aimed to have 55 per cent of cases closed within 55 working days. We achieved 67 per cent.

The ISA published its annual report in July. For the first time, the report detailed the complexities of ISA decision-making by taking the reader through two "life of a case" examples. Though these were not real-life cases, they represented the type of scenario a typical referral entails, as well as the often complex issues that ISA caseworkers face on a daily basis. We received some good news in September when the ISA's learning and development (L&D) team was shortlisted for a Training Journal award in recognition of our staff training programme.

The government announced in 2010 that it was to scale back the Vetting and Barring Scheme to common sense levels. One of its proposals was to merge the ISA and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to create a new body, which would provide a more proportionate barring and disclosure service. It is anticipated that this new Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) will be in operation by the end of November 2012. This time next year, we will be celebrating Christmas as a brand new NDPB. It looks like we've got another busy 12 months ahead!

For more information about the ISA visit www.isa.homeoffice.gov.uk