What do you think about the ISA?

I spent a very informative afternoon at the National Day Nurseries Association AGM on Wednesday, complete with a presentation from someone from the Home Office, updating delegates on the latest proposals from the Independent Safeguarding Association (ISA). The new scheme to vet adults who work with children and vulnerable adults has attracted much media attention over recent weeks with fears that parents who volunteer to drive children to a football match will now have to be vetted by the scheme. In practice, this is the case, providing the activity is either ‘regular’ or ‘intensive’ and there is a long list of examples of what this means on the ISA website. http://www.isa-gov.org/default.aspx?page=395

For us in daycare, the plans will not make a huge difference, but will hopefully provide further reassurance to parents about who is looking after their children. However, at the end of the day neither the CRB checks currently in existence (to be joined, not replaced, by the ISA), or with the new barring scheme, the onus will remain on us as employers to follow up references and use thorough recruitment procedures, as well as adequate supervision of all staff members. There has been a flurry of comment in the press – what do you think about the new scheme?