25/01/10

By Andrew Holt

A third of charity managers and trustees across the country are unaware of the Government's recently introduced requirements to vet staff and volunteers.

According to a new study published today by insurer Ecclesiastical, 32% of those surveyed said they were not aware of the new requirements to vet staff and volunteers introduced by the 2006 Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act.

Cultural charities were the least aware with 45% of managers and trustees saying they did not know about the new rules.

For youth charities the figure dropped to 20%.

16% of charity managers and trustees said they felt the introduction of the rules would deter new volunteers, while 6% said they felt it could have an impact on their existing volunteers' willingness to stay involved.

Asked whether they felt the Act would have the desired effect of increasing protection for vulnerable groups, a quarter (25%) said no, while a further 44% said they did not know.

The Vetting and Barring Scheme was introduced by the Government in October 2009.

Developed as a response to the Soham murders, the scheme applies to anyone working with children or vulnerable adults and requires them to have a criminal record check. Current estimates suggest that 11 million people will need to be checked by 2015.

Commenting on the study's results, Steve Wood, managing director of Ecclesiastical Insurance said: "We wanted to see how charities were dealing with the new vetting and barring rules because failure to implement them correctly could lead to litigation and significant costs for charities.

"While awareness of the requirements is high, particularly in the youth sector, there is clearly a significant group of managers and trustees who've yet to get to grips with the implications of the scheme for their organisations."

On an economic note, most charity managers and trustees (63%) believe that business will remain the same for them in 2010.

Almost a quarter (23%) predict improving financial conditions, while 8% expect things to get worse for their charity.

The study surveyed a representative sample of 142 charities.

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