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Protection of Children Act: A practical guide

The Protection of Children Act 1999 came into force in October 2000 and introduced the Protection of Children Act (PoCA) List in which the Secretary of State has a duty to record the names of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with children. Organisations working with children are required to check the register before employing individuals, and required to add to the list anyone that fulfils certain criteria making them unsuitable to work with children.

Title: The Protection of Children Act 1999 - a practical guide to the act for all organisations working with children
Author: Department for Education & Skills
Number of pages: 25
Date published: September 2005
Availability: Download full report Word 201Kb

Child care organisations listed in the PoCA List are obliged to check names of prospective employees against the list (through the Criminal Records Bureau) before offering employment. They must not employ individuals whose names are included on the PoCA List or List 99 (on the grounds that they are unsuitable to work with children) and must cease to employ such individuals in child care positions if they subsequently discover that they are included on these Lists. In fact, under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 it is an offence to knowingly offer work to or to employ in a "regulated" position (which includes child care positions) an individual who is disqualified from working with children (either by virtue of being included the List or a disqualification order from the court). Individuals who apply or offer to work, accept work or continue to work with children in such positions will be committing a criminal offence and can face prosecution if they are so disqualified.

The Act ensures that any person included in the PoCA List is also barred from working in a child care position in the education sector i.e. the persons name will also be included in List 99 - the list maintained by the Department which prevents individuals from carrying out work to which Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 applies.

The definition of employment is wide so that a child care position refers to work with children in all sectors irrespective of whether the work is paid or unpaid, and whether or not it is under a contract.

There are many other organisations outside of the "regulated" sectors that also "care" for children in one way or another. These organisations include:

• voluntary organisations through the "uniformed" youth activities (Scouts, Guides, Cadet Forces etc)

• national and local youth clubs

• religious organisations

• sporting and leisure groups where activities are undertaken by children

Whilst the provisions of the Protection of Children Act 1999 are not made mandatory for these organisations, the Government hopes that they will make referrals to the scheme. This is to ensure that they provide a comparable level of safety to children in their care as that afforded within the regulated child care sector. Thus all such "other" organisations are encouraged to refer names to the Secretary of State for consideration of inclusion in the PoCA List and to check against the List and List 99 when proposing to appoint people to work with children, whether for payment or voluntarily.

All regulated child care organisations also have a statutory duty to refer the names of those individuals who fulfil certain criteria making them unsuitable to work with children for possible inclusion in the PoCA List.

The Act also permits other organisations, such as voluntary organisations, sports clubs and scout associations to refer names for possible inclusion in the PoCA List.

This guide gives practical advice on the impact of PoCA to organisations working with children and covers the following areas:

• Is your organisation a child care organisation for the purposes of the Act?

• What it means if you are a "child care organisation" or "Other organisation"

• What is a "Regulated Position"?

• Checking Potential Employees / Volunteers for Child Care Positions

• How checks against the PoCA List are made

• Referring names to the Secretary of State

  • Power of certain authorities to refer

  • What constitutes "misconduct"?

  • Information to be supplied with a referral

  • Action following the provisional listing of an individual

  • Where referrals are to be sent

• Rights of the Person Referred

• The Definition of "Employment"

• The Definition of "Harm"

The guide also provides a list of further 'frequently asked questions' and a contact point for further enquiries.

Getting a copy

Download The Protection of Children Act 1999 - a practical guide to the act for all organisations working with children from the Teachernet website Word 201Kb

Last update: 19 October 2005