Bichard Vetting & Barring Scheme (BVBS)
Client Information
Department for Children Schools & Families (DCSF)
Between 2001 and 2007, the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) was responsible for regulating the educational and child services system in England. In June 2007, the Department of Education and Skills was combined with the Department of Trade and Industry to form the Department for Children, Schools, and Families.
Project Information
Department for Children Schools & Families (DCSF)
Bichard Vetting and Barring Scheme (BVBS)
An Inquiry led by Sir Michael Bichard was commissioned by the Home Office in December 2003 following the conviction of Ian Huntley for the murder of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Huntley was a school care taker at Soham Village College and had been subject to vetting for the post, including police checks. These revealed no relevant information about him. Huntley had previously lived for sometime in Humberside and after the verdict Humberside Police disclosed that between 1995 and 1999 there had been a series of incidents involving allegation of sexual offences committed by Huntley.
The inquiry examined the effectiveness of the Police forces relevant intelligence-based record keeping, vetting practices and information sharing with other agencies. The Bichard Inquiry Report (2004) drew conclusions on these matters and made recommendations that are relevant for police, social services, education establishments, vetting departments and the government to protect children and the vulnerable nationally.
The Report made 31 recommendations, most of which fell to the Police, the Home Office, and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to implement. There were eight recommendations that fell to the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) to lead, more specifically recommendation 19 - The creation of a centralised registration scheme to determine whether an individual is unsuitable for work with children and vulnerable adults.
MRL Deliverables
- Developed the overarching plan for the project, with the key milestones and the critical path identified, including various stage plans, work stream plans, and project dependencies.
- Developed the various Business Cases, i.e. the Strategic Outline Business Case and the Outline Business Case.
- Developed the Project Initiation Document (PID) for the initial phase of the project including the detailed product descriptions.
- Defined the Terms of Reference for the Project Board.
- Advised and assisted the client in developing Ministerial Submissions, Ministerial Q&A's, and Secretary of State (SoS) briefings.
- Defined and reviewed the various project procedures, processes, and controls to manage the project effectively.
- Provided advice to the key clients and other internal stakeholders and external stakeholders.
- Developed the comprehensive project plan- initial and subsequent for the office of Government.
- Developed the key and necessary project documentation to support the project going forward, e.g. Quality Report, Configuration Plan, Risk, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies Register.
- Co-ordinated the research activities of the project to validate options/solution development.
- Advised the client on the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) procedures and preparing the project for OGC Gateway reviews and internal reviews.
- Lead and managed client staff in the various project offices and liaised with the overarching Department for Skills and Education Programme Office and externally, with the Home Office Programme Office.
- The day-to day management of the overarching project plan, including change control procedures.
For Further Information:
- Bichard Inquiry Website
- Bichard Inquiry Report
- Department of Health Website on BVBS
- IMPACT Assessment for the Post-Bichard Scheme
- Bichard Vetting and Barring Scheme Policy Briefing Pack
- BBC News: In Depth - The Soham Trial
