SCIE Practice guide 7: Making referrals to the POVA list

How decisions to list individuals under POVA are made

Referrals are received by the POVA team based at the DfES at Darlington. They consider the evidence provided and make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Health.

Two conditions must be met for confirmation on the list:

• The provider must reasonably consider the worker guilty of misconduct that has harmed or placed at risk of harm a vulnerable adult.
• The worker must be considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults in the future.

'Reasonably considered guilty of misconduct'

Unlike the legal standard that applies to other regulatory bodies, the POVA listing is based on a civil standard of proof or 'balance of probabilities' - that is, that the employer 'reasonably considers' the individual to be guilty. The referral information relating to the allegations, investigations and decisions will inform the POVA team about this and is rigorously reviewed.

'Unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults in the future'

The judgement here relates to the risk that this person will offend again in the same way or more seriously. Casework is revealing what needs to be taken into account, and this will continue to be informed by experience. The judgement is based on the following considerations:

• the vulnerability of and impact on the individual victim(s)
• the nature (gravity) and extent of the abuse
• the number of incidents and victims involved
• how long the abuse has been occurring
• the length of time since the misconduct
• the timing and degree of recognition by the abuser, including any steps they have taken to avoid it recurring
• any other extenuating or mitigating circumstances
• the abuser's past record and experience, including evidence of their character, disposition, capacity and ability, and training received.
• admission or denial of guilt.

The POVA team base their recommendation about unsuitability on the information provided by employers and any subsequent correspondence. Employers are not asked to comment on the individual's suitability directly, but do need to provide information that will enable officials to make this decision.

Relevant information includes:

• the individual's employment history - for example, initial application form, record of previous warnings
• references at time of recruitment
• personal development plan
• training record
• performance appraisals
• adult placement carer reviews and placement reviews.

This is not an exhaustive list but indicates the kind of information that will be considered to make this judgement.