POCSA
Voluntary Sector Training Pack
And Guide

Glossary of Terms

Abuse

“A deliberate act of ill treatment that can harm or is likely to cause harm to a child’s safety, well being and development”.

Child

A “child” is defined as an individual who is under the age of 18 years. The Police Act 1997 also defines a child in this way. This is not the same as the definition of a child under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 which defines a child as an individual under the age of 16 years (with some exceptions). The Act does not apply to 16 and 17 year old young people who are in paid employment (as stated in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 of the Act).

Child Care position

The Act applies to all individuals (paid and volunteer workers) who work in a child care position. Schedule 2 of the Act defines child care positions in a number of ways. A definition that applies to many posts found in voluntary organisations is:

“A child care position is a position whose normal duties include caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children.”

Other positions such as managers or trustees may fall under Schedule 2 of the Act. Organisations should check this schedule.

Some examples of posts that involve:

• caring for children and young people include care worker, befriender, advocate, nurse, home help, crèche worker;
• training children and young people include sports leader, tutor, music group leader;
• supervising children and young people include classroom assistant, life guard, pool attendant, leader of an Uniformed organisation; volunteer helper (including a parent helper);
• sole charge of children and young people include youth worker, domiciliary care worker, Sunday school teacher.

Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS)

CRBS – the Central Registered Body in Scotland registers voluntary organisations and processes their requests for Standard and Enhanced Disclosures through to Disclosure Scotland. It also provides a wide range of services relating to the Disclosure system to voluntary organisations.

“Defamatory” and “privileged”

“To be defamatory a statement must first of all be untrue. Even if subsequently shown to be untrue, the statement will be protected by ‘qualified privilege’ if it is made to the appropriate authority ‘in response to a duty, whether legal, moral or social or in the protection of an interest’. Unjustified repetition of the allegations to other persons will not be protected by privilege.

The qualification on privilege refers to statements motivated by malice. If a statement, even to the appropriate authority, can be shown to be not only untrue, but motivated by malice, then an act of defamation could be successful.”

The above information is taken from the publication Guidelines on Child Protection (prepared for independent schools in Scotland by Kathleen Marshall BA (Hons) LLB).

Disclosure certificate

A document (known as a Disclosure) which details convictions and/or other relevant information held by the Police and Government Departments. There are 3 levels of Disclosures, namely: Basic, Standard and Enhanced.

Disclosure Scotland

The organisation with responsibility for issuing Disclosure certificates.

Grounds for referral

Grounds for referral – these are where an individual working in a child care position harms a child or puts a child at risk of harm AND is dismissed or moved away from access to children as a consequence.

In addition, a person in a child care position who harms a child or puts a child at risk of harm AND would have been dismissed if they had not resigned, retired, been made redundant or left at the end of a temporary contract, must also be referred to Scottish Ministers

“Harm"

Section 18 of the Act states that “harm" includes harm which is not physical.

Individual

Within the context of the grounds for referral to the List, “individual” means the person who is the subject of a reference under section 2(1) or 4(1) or named in a report referred to in section 6 of the Act.

List

The Disqualified from Working with Children List (the List) is a list of persons who are considered to be unsuitable to work with children because they have harmed a child or considered to have placed a child at risk of harm. Individuals who are fully listed will be disqualified from working with children and young people under the age of 18 years. The List is maintained by the Scottish Ministers.

Listed (or fully listed)

An individual will be fully listed where Scottish Ministers are satisfied that:

• the individual/organisation which made the referral reasonably considered the individual to have harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm; and
• it is concluded, after due process, that the individual is unsuitable to work with children.

Individuals who are listed are disqualified from working with children and young people under the age of 18 years.

Neglect

“Failing to provide for, or to secure for a child the basic needs of food, warmth, clothing, emotional security, physical safety and well-being”.

Observations

Iinclude comments and the submission of further information which may, where requested by Scottish Ministers, be made by the referring body or the individual who is the subject of a referral to the List.

Organisation

Within the Act an “organisation” means:

(a) a body corporate or unincorporate;
(b) an individual who, in the course of a business, employs or otherwise gives work to other persons;
(c) the managers of an educational establishment.

Provisional Listing

provisional listing does not disqualify the individual from working with children and young people in a child care position for the period of time that they are provisionally listed.

Disclosure checks for child care positions will show that the person is provisionally on the List. Both the person who is the subject of the referral and any organisation known to be “employing” that person in a child care position (either as a paid or volunteer worker) will be notified of the provisional listing and the outcome of the decision process.

Provisional listing will not normally last longer than 6 months (though there are some circumstances where this time period can be extended).

Reference

A written report sent to Scottish Ministers when an individual is referred to the List.

Referring Body

The organisation/individual who refers an individual to the List

“Vexatious” and “frivolous”

The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) defines:

“vexatious” (within the context of the law) as “denoting an action or the bringer of an action that is brought without sufficient grounds for winning, purely to cause annoyance to the defendant.

“frivolous” is defined as “not having any serious purpose or value.”

Voluntary organisation - a “non-profit distributing, non-statutory, autonomous body, which may also be registered as charitable.”

This pack is written for all voluntary organisations that fit this definition irrespective of whether they are:

• large, medium or small in size;
• connected to other groups (affiliated);
• unconnected to any other group (unaffiliated);
• managed by a committee and/or report to a Board of Directors;
• organised by a small number of volunteers who normally work together to provide an activity for children and young people;

It should therefore help a wide range of organisations that provide activities and services for children and young people under the age of 18 years, including (for example):

• youth clubs;
• uniformed organisations (e.g. Scouts and Guides);
• sports clubs;
• faith based children’s groups;
• arts based groups (for example local drama groups);
• outdoor pursuits clubs.