Ms J Appleton
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
15 October 2010
Dear Ms Appleton,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST NO. ISA/IG/FOI/197/2010
I write in connection with your request for information which was received by
the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) on 17 September 2010. The ISA
is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000; however your request
has been considered in the spirit of the legislation.
1. Of the 10,840 automatic bars, how many of these relate to the transfer of
old disqualification orders to the new barred list? And how many relate to
new offences (after 20 January 2009)?
Not all of this level of information is held in a readily accessible format and
would require the manual inspection of records. We have estimated the
cost of meeting your request for this question would exceed the limit of
£450 specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Your request is therefore
refused in accordance with Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000.
2. Of the 10,840 automatic bars, how many were for cautions and how many
for convictions?
Autobar cases can change status on a daily basis due to individuals being
removed from or placed on the barred list or lists. Therefore the 10,840
cases given in a previous Freedom of Information request, and to which you
refer, are no longer identifiable.
As you know Autobar
cases occur where a person has been cautioned or
convicted for a ‘relevant’ offence. In these cases the person is
‘automatically’ barred (by law) from working with children or vulnerable
adults. For some ‘auto-bar’ offences a person has the right to make
representations to the ISA as to why they should be removed from the
barred list(s) and the ISA has the power to remove them.
At present we are able to identify 10,633 people who remained autobarred
in the period 20 January 2009 and the end of June 2010. Of these 2,879
people have an Autobar for cautions and 7,390 for convictions. In addition
there are 364 cases which have been referred to the ISA’s Autobar team
and are in the process of being classified.
3. Of the 10,840 automatic bars, how many were bars with no appeal, and
how many were bars with representation?
Of the 10,633 people barred at the end of June 2010;
9858 were automatically barred with the right to make representations
(on their primary case -. the offence which resulted in them being
autobarred by the ISA) and
775 were automatically barred without the right to make representations
(on their primary case).
4. Since 20 January 2009, in bars with representation cases, how long on
average is the period between the decision to provisionally bar and the final
decision?
Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (SVGA) there is no
‘provisional bar’. The ISA is required by statute to bar anyone who has
been cautioned/convicted of a ‘relevant offence’. Where a person is barred
with the right to make representations they remain barred unless, following
receipt of successful representations, the bar is removed. The person has a
period of 8 weeks in which to submit representations and may request an
extension of that period. The ISA wil grant an extension where there are
reasonable grounds to do so, for example where there are delays in
delivery of mail due to the person serving a custodial sentence.
In those automatic barring cases where the SVGA allows for
representations to be made (to remove the bar), the average period
between the bar being enacted and confirmed/removed is 64 working days.
This includes the period of up to 40 working days for representations to be
made and any cases where extensions of this period has been granted.
We hope you find this response helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied with
the handling of your request for information you can lodge a complaint with the
Independent Safeguarding Authority to have it reviewed. The Independent
Safeguarding Authority must be notified of your intention to complain within two
months of the date of this response to your request.
Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:
Performance Manager
Independent Safeguarding Authority
PO BOX 181
Darlington
DL1 9FA
In all possible circumstances the Independent Safeguarding Authority will aim
to respond to your complaint as soon as practicable and in any case within two
months.
Yours sincerely,
Information Governance Officer