Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 is a strong framework that exists in the UK to protect its most vulnerable citizens. There are a series of laws in place in the UK that exist to protect both vulnerable children and adults. The UK Government defines safeguarding as “Protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006:

What is the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act?

When two small children were tragically murdered in Soham in 2002, the Government introduced an enquiry to investigate and understand how the tragedy was able to take place; this was titled the Bichard Inquiry (2004). The government then decided to adopt the recommendations of that inquiry and write them into law. The result of this is the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

The Birchard Inquiry identified that there were significant failings in the way that the vetting and barring systems worked before the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act was introduced. The following factors were included in the outcome of the enquiry:

• Employers were making inconsistent decisions about who they could or couldn’t employ based on the CRB disclosure information they received.
• CRB disclosure information is only certain to be accurate on the day of issue and is not a comprehensive measure of someone’s suitability for a job role.
• There were clearly identified inconsistencies between the lists most commonly used to assess an individual’s suitability to work with vulnerable people (most specifically List 99, the POCA list and the POVA list)
• The existing barring system did not act in a preventative manner or place enough focus on preventing harm, rather it reacted to harmful behaviour when it had already occurred.
• Finally, the inquiry revealed that there are inconsistencies between police authorities across the UK in what police information they would choose to disclose.

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 was introduced to overcome these issues and inconsistencies. The 2006 Act provides a new vetting and barring scheme to replace the existing arrangements for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from harm, or the risk of harm, by employees and volunteers whose work gives them significant access to these vulnerable groups.

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Children Act 2006 applies to individuals working with young people and vulnerable people in schools, youth groups, and other social settings. It also applies to the health service as well as the social care sector.

Why Was the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act Introduced?

The primary aim of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 is to ensure that those individuals working with vulnerable adults in the UK are considered legally safe and suitable to do so. The Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act allows checks to be carried out on all individuals who wish to work in caring roles with vulnerable adults to ensure that they don’t have a criminal history of abuse or exploitation. Anyone who does have a criminal history that would prevent them from working in one of these roles is placed on a list, and that list is checked every time someone applies for a job role that will involve working with vulnerable adults.

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 operates in conjunction with the Vetting and Barring Service system. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions. DBS is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office. The kind of job roles that are impacted by the vetting and barring system is defined by the DBS, and there are a huge number of regulated and controlled workplaces included. The sole purpose of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the DBS checks that work in conjunction is to prevent future abuses from being carried out by someone with convictions of crimes that are abusive.

If you work with vulnerable children or adults then it is important that you understand the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and its implications. You will need to undergo a legal vetting process before you are able to secure a position within this sector, and you will need to follow the guidelines included in this act whenever you interact with the vulnerable people under your care. Understanding the implications of the act in full will enable you to better understand your legal duties, in order to protect yourself from liability and protect your patients from abuse. Protecting your patients from abuse and safeguarding their health and well-being should be your primary concern.

How Many Principles Does the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act Have?

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 does not identify specific principles that those working with vulnerable groups must adhere to, but within the safeguarding community, there are six principles of safeguarding that were introduced by the government in 2011 and now apply within all health and social care settings Those six principles are:

1. Empowerment. As a carer or caregiver for a vulnerable individual, your role should focus on supporting and encouraging those under your care to make their own decisions. When you have to make decisions on their behalf, you should seek their informed consent unless they have a reduced mental capacity and have not been considered capable of making decisions in their own right.
2. Prevention. When it comes to safeguarding vulnerable groups, it is always better to take action to prevent harm rather than wait for harm to occur. It is better to take action before harm occurs.
3. Proportionality. If a safeguarding risk is presented then you should always respond in the least intrusive way to the risk presented, in order to ensure that the individual is protected whilst still maintaining their freedom and independence.
4. Protection. Vulnerable groups need to be protected from harm, so a key principle of protecting vulnerable groups is to ensure that they have adequate support and representation and that all of their needs are met.
5. Partnership. Safeguarding vulnerable groups shouldn’t work in isolation. Instead, local solutions should be provided through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse, and should be proactive in doing so.
6. Accountability. Finally, it is important that carers and caregivers are accountable for ensuring that both transparency and accountability are present in safeguarding practice.

Avoiding Neglect and Ill-Treatment

There were an estimated 498,260 concerns of abuse raised during 2020-21 in England alone, which is an increase of 5% on the previous year. Signs of abuse can be difficult for families, carers, and caregivers to detect, but it is important to recognise what abuse is in order to best avoid neglect and ill-treatment. There are ten different types of abuse. These are:

• Physical abuse. Types of physical abuse include but are not limited to, assault (hitting, punching or pushing for example), rough handling, implementing physical punishments, the inappropriate use of restraint, scalding or burning, making someone purposefully uncomfortable (a good example of this would be opening their windows and removing their blankets during the winter months), involuntary isolation, using medication for sedation, and controlling food.
• Domestic violence or abuse. Types of domestic violence include, but are not limited to, psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse within a household or intimate relationship.
• Sexual abuse. Types of sexual abuse include but are not limited to, sexual assault, rape or attempted rape. Any form of inappropriate touch, non-consensual penetration or masturbation, and any sexual activity that the person involved lacks the mental capacity to consent to. Forced sexual photography, the use of pornography or indecent exposure are also considered forms of sexual abuse.
• Psychological or emotional abuse. Types of psychological or emotional abuse include but are not limited to, cyberbullying, removing means of communication or deliberately leaving someone when they need assistance, enforcing social isolation against their will, preventing them from meeting their religious or cultural needs, and preventing them from expressing their own choices and opinions. Other types of abuse within this category include failing to respect privacy, threatening or humiliating behaviour, threatening harm or abandonment, or addressing a person in a way that is patronising or demeaning.
• Financial or material abuse. Types of financial or material abuse include but are not limited to fraud, scamming, theft of money and possessions, preventing a person from accessing their own money, benefits or assets, denying the assistance needed to access their own money or benefits, false representation by using another person’s bank account, cards or documents, and the misuse of a power of attorney, deputy, appointee or other legal authority.
• Modern slavery. Types of modern slavery include, but are not limited to, forced labour, human trafficking, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and debt bondage. This is where an individual is forced to work in order to pay off a debt in such a way that the debt will never be paid.
• Discriminatory abuse. Types of discriminatory abuse include but are not limited to, any form of unequal treatment based on any of the protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act 2010. These characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, and sex or sexual orientation.
• Organisational or institutional abuse. Types of organisational or institutional abuse include but are not limited to, discouraging the visits or involvement of friends and family members of the institutionalised individual, institutions that are overcrowded or run down, run according to rigid regimes or lack leadership and supervision. Providing poor quality of care due to staffing issues, or demonstrating abusive and disrespectful attitudes to service users. Failing to respect their dignity, and privacy or manage their needs, not providing assistance with eating when needed, misusing medication, and not responding to complaints of abuse adequately.
• Neglect or acts of omission. Types of neglect include, but are not limited to, failing to provide access to food, shelter, medication, activities or personal care, refusing to access visitors or other forms of stimulation, and not taking account of educational, social, cultural, religious and recreational needs, and failure to provide privacy or dignity.
• Self-neglect. Types of self-neglect include, but are not limited to, demonstrating a lack of self-care so severe that it threatens personal health and safety, being unable to manage your own affairs, not being able to avoid self-harm, and not accessing health and social care when it is needed.

Whilst just one sign from each of these lists should not be used on its own as proof that abuse is occurring, they should never be ignored. Instead, you should alert your superiors, more informed practitioners or your local police force so that an additional assessment can be made. Safeguarding is something that should be protected in a wide range of settings. It is particularly important whenever your role involves interacting with vulnerable children as adults. Obvious examples of individuals who are subject to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 include educators, care home workers and medical professionals whilst less obvious examples include yoga instructors or personal trainers who may offer their services to children or vulnerable adults, A good rule of thumb is that if your role will ever expose you to working with, or alongside, children or vulnerable adults then you should expect to comply to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.