With effect from 1 April 2005, the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003 (POCVA) introduced a statutory requirement for childcare organisations to carry out a vetting check on prospective employees wishing to work with children in a paid or unpaid capacity in Northern Ireland. As part of the services introduced under POCVA, employers in Northern Ireland can check to confirm that a prospective employee or volunteer is not disqualified from working with children.
Where previous addresses indicate that an individual may have resided in:
England or Wales, a criminal records check is carried out with the relevant police forces for that jurisdiction and a check is also carried out against the relevant Disqualification Lists for that jurisdiction;
Scotland, a criminal records check is carried out. Discussions are ongoing to allow Northern Ireland access to Scotland’s Disqualification Lists;
Republic of Ireland, a criminal records check will be requested from the Garda Vetting Unit by the PSNI.
Where an individual resides in England/Wales or Scotland and wishes to work or volunteer to work with children, the onus will be on the prospective employer to carry out a vetting check through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) or Disclosure Scotland respectively. If the individual has a previous address in Northern Ireland CRB or Disclosure Scotland will request a criminal records check from the PSNI. PSNI will also check if individuals have been listed on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Department of Education (DE) Disqualification Lists.
Employers in Republic of Ireland (ROI) can also register with the DHSSPS to ascertain whether prospective employees resident in ROI but with previous addresses in Northern Ireland are included on the DHSSPS Disqualification list.