Assignment 2- unit 11
P4 P5 M2-
P4: Outline key legislations and regulations which govern safeguarding adults’ work:
This part of the essay is about outlining key legislations and regulations which relate to
safeguarding adults and keeping them safe. The regulations that will be discussed will be:
safeguarding vulnerable groups act, sexual offences act, disability discrimination act and
the human rights act, the race relations act and data protection act.
The first act is the ‘Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006’ (SVC) This act looks at the
importance of how to look after adults safely and efficiently. It came about in 2006 due to
the failure of inquiries into the Soham murders. Arrangements were introduced for those
people who want to work with children and vulnerable adults, this will then be registered to
show that there is no reason why an individual should not be able to work with these
people. The Independent Safeguarding Authority makes the final decisions about who can
and cannot work with the children and vulnerable adults, as well as this the act includes
Vetting an Barring schemes will deal with situations that are regulated, and these include
voluntary or paid work. Some Offences made will automatically mean that they cannot
continue to work in the work environment, they will have no choice to appeal or take action
and only result is to leave. As well as this, new criminal offences will be put into place for the
new scheme; this will be included for both the employers and employees.
There is a new barring system which protects children but also vulnerable adults, this new
system will be able to access information about a person, and notice if a person has any
criminal offences or could be a possible danger towards others, if this information does
show up then it’s possible that the person will be barred, this is why when people apply for
jobs and work they will most likely have to show their DBS (Disclosure And Barring Service)
as this will tell employers or the people who are hiring whether they have any criminal
offences etc. This is extremely important because it is important that employers are hiring
the right people especially if they are working with vulnerable adults who are more at risk of
being abused or taken advantage of. The importance of this Act is clearly stated in its name,
as the act protects not just ordinary adults but those who are more vulnerable to society, it
helps look after those who need help and guidance that little bit more than others, and the
cat also includes simple human rights that everybody should have, such as rights to work,
safeguarding rights and to be treated the same regardless of any disability or how
vulnerable they deem to be.
The second legislation that will be outlined is, ‘sexual offences act 2003’ this act is based on
sexual offences and consent given to adults. This act also outlines ways in which people are
protected from being harmed or abused especially in a sexual way. Includes in the act is the
fact that a sexual offence does not just have to be having sexual intercourse but it may also
be touching someone inappropriately without their consent or them wanting you to.
, Another example of a sexual offence is spiking someone’s drink or putting something in their
drink without them knowing, people who do this usually then sexually abuse the victim or
get them to do something they wouldn’t usually do because they are on drugs or unaware
of what they are doing in the moment. In order to protect adults and those who are
vulnerable, under this act, sex offenders must register with their local police every year
rather than 5 years, this will allow the police to keep track of those who may be a danger to
society or those or are vulnerable The Guardian, (2009).
The next act is the ‘Disability Discrimination Act’ this act covers for those people and
vulnerable adults who are disabled or have a disability this covers those who have physical
or mental conditions or impairments which therefore impact their lives and how they do
things. The term ‘disability discrimination’ is when an adult is treated less well or taken
advantage of because they have a disability. There a different types of disability
discrimination which many adult experience on an everyday basis, they include harassment,
and pressuring someone to do something, victimisation and making someone feel
purposefully bad about something they maybe cannot control like their disability.
To protect vulnerable adults and those people who are more prone to being abused or put
into a serious situation, the act allows for employers and all organisations to be responsible
for disabled people/adults to get the same rights as anybody else and access to the same
services as someone who does not have a disability. The act altogether allows for all people
to be treated fairly regardless of their disability or if they have any condition/ health issue
Equality Human Rights, (2020).
The next act is the ‘Human Rights Act 1988’ this act is extremely important especially
towards vulnerable adults as it allows them to have the same rights as anybody else, this act
also has similar principles to the disability discriminatory act. Under human rights act, it
protects adults by making sure public bodies such as local authorities, police and health
services give adults and those who deem to be vulnerable the same rights like anybody else.
The human rights act enforces that ALL people are entitled to be treated equally, with
fairness dignity and of course respect.
One of the main aspects of this act that applies to adults and vulnerable people is the right
to have freedom and be free from mistreatment abuse. It is quite common for adults who
are vulnerable to society to be misjudged or taken advantage of and this still happens to this
date, however on the more positive side this act allows for all types of people to have the
same human rights EqualityAndHumanRights, (2018).
Another act that can relate to adults and vulnerable adults is the race relations act 1968. As
this act was made, it was illegal to discriminate someone because of their colour, ‘racial
discrimination’ this is something that still continues to happen even in the 21 st century as
racism is quite common especially in the UK and USA. The laws of race relations had to be
put into place to try and stop the common trend of abusing and being racist to other
