Overview Of Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act

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This Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (SVGA) 2006 was passed to help avoid harm, or risk of harm, by preventing people who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and vulnerable adults from gaining access to them through their work. The Independent Safeguarding Authority was established because of this Act. On 1 December 2012 the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority merged to become the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Organisations with responsibility for providing services or personnel to vulnerable groups have a legal obligation to refer relevant information to the service.
The Protection of Freedoms Bill (Chapter 1 of Part 5) amends the SGVA 2006, retaining the national barring function whilst abolishing registration and monitoring requirements. For further information see the Protection of Freedoms Bill Home Office …show more content…

The MCA 2005 (s44) extends this, creating two new criminal offences of ill treatment or wilful neglect of a person who lacks capacity to make relevant decisions. This applies to all people who lack mental capacity in whatever setting, thus offering protection to people with learning disabilities, brain injury or dementia. The offences may apply to all people, paid or unpaid, who care for a person who may lack capacity and those with deputyship, LPA or EPA. The maximum sentence for such offences is now five years.
Ill-treatment and wilful neglect are different. Ill-treatment must be deliberate, is an offence irrespective of whether it causes harm, and involves an appreciation by the perpetrator that they were inexcusably ill-treating the person or being reckless (Mandelstam 2009). Ill-treatment includes acts such as hitting, administering sedatives to keep people quiet, pulling hair, rough treatment, verbal abuse or humiliation (Mandelstam