Important information about “Vulnerable Adults”

The material in this training relates to children and young people under the age of 18 years. Much of the best practice etc is also appropriate to the care and protection of vulnerable adults. However, this material relates specifically to meet the requirements of the Act and therefore the needs of children and young people under the age of 18 years.

Although the Act does not apply to vulnerable adults this does not mean that their care and protection needs are not equally important. The Scottish Executive is developing legislation which will allow Scottish Ministers to keep a list of individuals whom they consider to be unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults. At present, Regulations under the Police Act 1997 define what is meant by a “vulnerable adult” (within the context of the legislation) and allow for Standard and Enhanced Disclosure checks to be undertaken for individuals who work with them.

Organisations which provide activities and services to vulnerable adults should have appropriate care and protection procedures in place. When applying for Disclosure checks for adults to work with vulnerable adults, both the Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS) (which processes Standard and Enhanced Disclosure checks for the voluntary sector) and Disclosure Scotland will ask for copies of relevant policies and procedures before processing Disclosure checks for an organisation