Over the past year, a number of events – covered extensively by the nation’s media – have created a heightened sense of awareness about the need to provide greater protection for children and young people. The proliferation of internet-based child pornography rings, and the continuing investigations into individuals suspected of accessing child pornography on the Web, have raised serious concerns about the threat of sexual abuse to children posed by this medium. Meanwhile, the murders of two young schoolgirls in Soham last year, suspected to be by adults known to them, drove fear into the heart of every parent.
As a result of this growing public awareness, a number of significant developments and new policies have been adopted to safeguard children and young people, but also vulnerable adults. The introduction of the Criminal Records Bureau Disclosures Service in April 2002, to replace the old system of police checks, was designed to screen people whose work places them in a position of trust with children, young people and adults. However, the service soon came under scrutiny for its inability to cope with the volume of requests, with the processing of Disclosures experiencing severe delays.
It wasn’t long before the arts industry realised the implications for individuals and organisations working with young people, children and vulnerable adults, in light of developments in policy and legislation. In 1997, The Police Act was introduced, which makes it a criminal offence to not check an employee working with children or vulnerable adults. The Protection of Children Act 1999 requires childcare organisations to use the Disclosure system, and urges other groups involved with children and young people to do so, while the Criminal Justice and Services Act 2000 deals specifically with Disclosures and child protection issues.
In response, Arts Council England (ACE) has produced a set of guidelines to assist artists and arts organisations to draft policies and consider models of best practice to protect children and vulnerable adults.
Hassina Khan, Education and Learning Officer at ACE, says the publication of the guidelines emerged from two key factors. Firstly, the merger of the Arts Council of England with the Regional Arts Boards, which prompted a review of the eleven separate organisations to create a single set of documentation for the new body; and new laws regarding the protection of young people and vulnerable adults.
‘The increase in legislation… caused arts organisations to re-examine their procedures and come to us with queries,’ Khan explains. ‘Many were familiar [with] the previous system for police checks, but were unclear about the new procedures.’
The new document, entitled Keeping Arts Safe, aims to raise awareness in the arts sector about issues surrounding the protection of children and vulnerable people. It also aims to point out that artists, companies, project organisers and facilitators not only have a responsibility to ensure policies are in place to promote safe working practices, but also to have a clear understanding of what action to take if abuse is suspected or disclosed.
The document includes explanations of relevant legislation, but its core function is to provide guidance to assist in the writing of policies and procedures protecting young people and adults – now a requirement for ACE-funded organisations.
ACE funding agreements, from 2003/2004, will include a new clause concerning the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults. The condition will read: ‘You are responsible for being fully aware of issues about protection of children and vulnerable adults. You should consider any possible risks involved in the funded activities and take appropriate action to protect everyone involved.’
‘If you are an organisation,’ the condition continues, ‘you must adopt and carry out a written policy and set of procedures to protect children and vulnerable adults.’
As there is currently no legal definition of a ‘vulnerable adult’, the ACE’s working definition is: ‘People who are, or may be, in need of community care services because of mental disability or other disability, age or illness, and who are, or who may be, unable to take care of themselves or unable to protect themselves against significant harm or exploitation.’
According to the report, legislation for the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults proved difficult for the arts sector ‘because it was not designed with arts organisations and activities in mind.’ However, the ACE stresses the guidance document is just one of a number of resources which arts organisations should consult to keep informed and up-to-date on protection issues. Therefore, a list of other useful publications and organisations are included in the document.
‘There is a need,’ says Khan, ‘for guidance which is exclusively about the arts, that arts organisations can read and use alongside the many other useful resources that are available in this area.’
‘Keeping Arts Safe is just one tool in an extensive and varied tool-kit,’ she emphasises. ‘There is also a desire to help organisations by collating and providing information, so that they don’t need to search for each piece independently, given their limited resources and time.’
The document also points out that another barrier to arts organisations effectively dealing with new legislative requirements, is that ‘there is not a developed infrastructure in the arts sector’ to process Disclosure checks through organisations registered with the Criminal Records Bureau. So is there a need to develop such an infrastructure specific to the arts sector?
According to Khan: ‘Arts Council England is keen to work through existing registered or umbrella bodies, rather than create more… The Home Office is currently reviewing which organisations are registered to carry out Disclosure checks, with a view to decreasing the number and increasing the efficiency.’
Ultimately, Khan comments that the ACE hopes the guidelines will enable artists and companies to develop policies specific to the needs of the organisation.
‘[We] hope that arts organisations will develop individual policies and procedures to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults, that are appropriate to their own circumstances.’
To download a copy of ‘Keeping Arts Safe’ from the ACE website, CLICK HERE.
