Child Protection
All organisations working with children need to have rigorous child protection policies in place to make sure children under their supervision are trained in an enjoyable and safe environment.
Local Authorities
All local authorities will have a child protection policy in place that Children’s Services should be able to advise you on. It is recommended that this policy is adapted to specifically reflect cycle training and may need to be presented in a more concise or user friendly format for cycle instructors. Having done this it would be advisable to ask a member of Children’s Services to approve its content and its appropriateness.
School Games Organiser Host Schools
Most state schools will operate with the child protection policy of the local education authority. School Games Organiser Host Schools should state which child protection policy they are following and provide copies of guidance documents that are made available to instructors. As with local authorities, it is recommended that the policy document is adapted to reflect cycle training specifically and is made available in a user friendly format.
Independent Organisations and Sole Traders
Some independent organisations and sole traders may require help in developing a child protection policy. Our guidance documents are designed to help you do this - they can be downloaded for future reference.
Download Child Protection Policy Organisations Guidance (169)
Download Child Protection Policy Sole Traders Guidance (200)
Additional guidance – the NSPCC has produced Stopcheck, a free step by step guide designed to help smaller organisations providing activities or services for children to develop child protection polices and procedures.
Download Stopcheck NSPCC Booklet (705)
For further information please visit www.nspcc.org.uk
Criminal Records Bureau Check
The Criminal Records Bureau helps public, private and voluntary sectors by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable to work with children or other vulnerable members of society. Known more commonly as a CRB check, the bureau conducts checks on candidates by accessing criminal record information. They can provide two levels of service:
Standard Disclosure
This is primarily available to anyone involved with work with children or vulnerable adults, as well as certain other occupations and those seeking entry into professions as specified in the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. Standard disclosures show current and spent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer. If the post involves working with children or vulnerable adults, the following may also be searched:
- Protection of Children Act (POCA) list
- Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list
- Information that is held under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 (formerly known as List 99).
Enhanced Disclosure
This is the highest level of check which is available to anyone involved in regularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children or vulnerable adults. It is also available for certain licensing purposes and judicial appointments. Enhanced disclosures contain the same information as standard disclosures but with the addition of any relevant and proportionate information held by the local police forces.
The CRB recognises that the standard and enhanced disclosure information can be extremely sensitive and personal, therefore it has published a code of practice and employer’s guidance for recipients of disclosures to ensure that they are handled fairly and used properly.
A copy of the standard or enhanced disclosure will be sent out to the applicant as well as the Registered Body.
Larger organisations may already have procedures in place and a policy for the level of CRB check required, however further information can be found by visiting www.crb.gov.uk.