Written question asked by Michael Jack (Conservative) on Monday, 13 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 July 2009. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Children: Protection

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how he plans to monitor the effectiveness of the provisions of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in protecting vulnerable young people under the age of eight.

Answer: Once we phase in registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), there will be duties to check registration, and penalties for non-compliance. If, for example, a person permits staff to look after children under the age of eight in a crèche, it will be an offence if that person does not check that the staff are ISA-registered, or uses staff who are not ISA-registered, or knowingly uses staff who are barred from working with children. If anyone suspects that a person is committing such an offence, they should report it to the police.

Secondary information