ATL

Northern Ireland

The ISA covers nine million people, but how much good will it do? asks director of ATL Northern Ireland, Mark Langhammer

The new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is to run a vetting and barring scheme, usurping the role of AccessNI in vetting school teachers, support staff and volunteers. Conceived after the Soham murders, the scheme was proposed by the Department of Health, who initially did not consider consulting teaching unions. We remain unconvinced that this sledge-hammering quango will crack the nut it's aimed at.

The legislation will cover more than nine million people - even after recent amendments. Some believe the ISA is a backdoor introduction of the failed national identity card concept.

As well as school staff, school visitors will need to be vetted, as will many volunteers and parents helping to ferry pupils to sports fixtures and extracurricular activities, and on school trips.

Current teachers will be re-vetted and obliged to pay for the privilege. The ISA has draconian powers within investigations, allowing hearsay evidence without a clear right of appeal. The potential for malicious allegations against teachers is obvious.

The current scheme copes badly with vetting student teachers and NQTs before their school placements and for the irregular and substitute teaching work common at the start of their careers. The ISA holds no prospect of improvement. Indeed, the new agency will do little to protect children vulnerable to the most common threat: physical, sexual or psychological abuse by family members or family friends.

Do we need this new quango? Wouldn't more front-line social services staff be more effective?