Adults at Risk
As you may be aware the Scottish Goverment is currently working towards introducing new legislation which establishes a Scottish List of adults disqualified from working with Adults. This legislation will be similar to that of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003. There is no implementation date for this legislation at present.
An equivalent list is already established in England and Wales.
Disclosure Scotland can confirm that we are now able to access the English and Welsh List when carrying out Enhanced checks for positions working with Adults at Risk. If the individual is named on the list this will be Disclosed under the heading ‘Other Government Information’ on a Disclosure Certificate.
All registered bodies are advised that the following information outlines the current situation relating to Disclosures for positions involving working with Adults at Risk. Countersignatories should ensure the initials AAR are entered at the beginning of field C2 - "Position Applied For" where the Disclosure is required in relation to such a position. For example a Nurse entry would be:-
AAR – Nurse
An "Adult at Risk" is defined within the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records)(Scotland) Regulations 2006. Simply click on "Adults at Risk" and refer to Regulations 10(2) to 10(7).
It must be stressed the onus is on the Countersignatory to highlight the position as having contact with an Adult at Risk. Disclosure Scotland will not check the lists unless that prompt is present.
Disclosure Scotland’s experience is that the entries made in field C2 are often ambiguous. Please be aware that the descriptions you enter may be used by Police Forces to determine the relevancy of any non-conviction information they may hold. It is important that the titles entered are clear and actually portray the work to be done by the applicant. This will assist in the decision-making process.
There will be a new Disclosure Scotland Application Form introduced later this year and this will contain a question in the Countersignatory Section relating to whether the Position Applied For is a position in terms of contact with Adults at Risk and if the Countersignatory is requesting a check of the lists.
Should you have any queries on this matter then please Contact Us.
