New Clause 2
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Parmjit Dhanda (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Children, Young People and Families), Department for Education and Skills; Gloucester, Labour)
We are discussing two probing new clauses; that is unusual, as we usually talk of probing amendments. However, I welcome them.
The Bill does not prevent an organisation or individual from referring information to the IBB when it or he is not under a duty to do so. The Bill also provides that the IBB must consider any information that it receives from whatever source and of whatever nature. New clause 2 would create a power for any organisation to refer information to the IBB.
We agree that the IBB should not be limited to considering information only from organisations under a duty to provide it, and I reassure the hon. Lady that the Bill imposes no such limitation. For organisations not covered by the duties in the Bill, we plan to issue guidance setting out when we would expect an organisation to make a referral to the IBB. The guidance will advise individuals who wish to make such referrals to refer the information to the police or another appropriate authority, such as a local authority or social services, so that it can be properly investigated and any action needed to protect children or vulnerable adults can be set in train quickly.
New clause 3 would enable the IBB to require information from any organisation when it is considering whether to include or keep a person on a barred list. We have already ensured that the key organisations likely to have such information are under a duty to provide information to the IBB. That duty is imposed on employers that are regulated activity providers, including former employers, local authorities, the police, keepers of registers such as the General Medical Council and supervisory authorities such as Ofsted.
The IBB will also be able to ask any other organisation for information relevant to a barring decision. It seems unlikely that an organisation would not comply with such a request, given that the protection of children and vulnerable adults would be at stake. If such an organisation were reluctant to provide information and if the details that the IBB already had suggested that the child or vulnerable adult might be at risk, the IBB would be able to refer the case to the police and/or other local services for further investigation. That is pretty important.
Our approach strikes the correct balance between ensuring that the IBB has access to information, so that it can make decisions, and avoiding duplicating the investigative and intervention roles of other organisations, including the police and social services. Given those assurances, I hope that the hon. Lady will not insist on her probing new clauses.