ISM MUSIC JOURNAL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 | LEGAL & BUSINESS
Legal & business Raisa Pankalainen ISM, Office & Member Administrator, provides a reminder of the procedures involved in obtaining criminal record checks for safe-guarding purposes in the four UK nations
Obtaining a criminal record check for private teaching Now that life is getting slowly back to normal in all four nations, many music teachers have started or are planning to start face-to-face lessons again. If you are teaching privately, the ISM recommends that you obtain a criminal record check for safeguarding purposes.
Above: Raisa Pankalainen Photo: Emile Holba
As your professional body, we can request a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if you are based in England and Wales, request Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme registration if you are based in Scotland, or request an AccessNI check if you are based in Northern Ireland.
ISM Registered Private Teacher Status If you wish to apply for ISM Registered Private Teacher (RPT) status, a criminal record check is mandatory. Having ISM RPT status can help you to promote your private music lessons, as it demonstrates that you have been reference and criminal record checked by your professional body, and that you have signed up to our Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy, Code of Practice and procedures. You will receive a certificate of your status and a highlighted listing on the ISM Music Directory.
DBS checks A DBS check is a criminal record check which employers in England and Wales may request, especially if you are working with children and vulnerable adults. There are four different types of checks: basic, standard, enhanced and enhanced with a check of the barred lists. A barred list check shows whether the applicant is on the adults’ and/or children’s barred list. The barred lists allow the DBS to keep a record of people who are not permitted to work in a regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable adults. It’s a criminal offence for a person to work with a group from which they have been barred from working.
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We can organise an enhanced DBS check with barred list for you if you teach or your intention is to teach under 18s and/or vulnerable adults in the next 4-8 weeks, on one occasion or more per week, or for intensive periods of four days or more over a 30-day period. Applications are handled by our DBS partner, Due Diligence Checking (DDC). The current fee for enhanced DBS check is £61.60 and the whole process takes approximately 4-8 weeks, so it is good to start the process as soon as possible. Once you have received your DBS check, we recommend that you join the DBS Update Service. This is an automatic annual renewal service that allows you to keep your DBS certificate up to date. If you join this service, you will be DBS checked once a year. The cost for the Update Service is £13/year.
PVG scheme If you live in Scotland, you will need to join the PVG scheme. Protected adults are defined as those aged 16 years and over who are unable to safeguard their own wellbeing, property, rights or other interests and are at risk of harm. The scheme is managed and delivered by Disclosure Scotland, which carries out criminal record checks for our members and shares the result with the DDC. The cost for PVG scheme registration as a new member is £80.60. There is no separate update service for the PVG scheme, as Disclosure Scotland regularly checks applicants’ suitability to continue working with children or protected adults on an ongoing basis. If they find new information which means someone is no longer suitable to work with children or protected adults delete, they will contact the DDC who then will inform the ISM about the changes. If you are already a member of the PVG scheme, DDC can process the application as a PVG update, providing they have seen the original PVG certificate from when you first joined the PVG scheme. The cost of a PVG update is £39.60. The PVG update is required for ISM members who have registered with the PVG scheme through another organisation (not the ISM) and wish to apply for the ISM RPT status.
