SCIE Practice guide 7: Making referrals to the POVA list

What it means when someone is POVA listed

What listing means for individuals

An individual who is included on the POVA list either as a confirmed or provisional listing may not be offered work in a care position.

When people are listed provisionally, they will be informed by the POVA team and given the opportunity to comment on the referral and the incident that led to it. They will be informed about the outcome of the referral.

It is an offence for anyone confirmed on the POVA list to knowingly apply for, offer to do, accept or do any work in a care position.

It is not an offence for an individual who is provisionally listed to seek employment in such a position. Nevertheless a provider of care must not employ anyone in a care position who is either provisionally listed or confirmed on the list.

Individuals who are charged with an offence of applying to work in a care position while on the POVA list can defend themselves if they can prove that they did not know that they had been confirmed on the POVA list.

What listing means for care employers and managers

The Act requires employers and managers to check the POVA list before offering any individual employment in a care position. If they discover that the person is included on the list, they must not offer to employ that person in such a position.

Where employers and managers discover that an individual already occupying a care position is on the POVA list, they must cease to employ him or her in that capacity. In such cases, that person can be moved to a non-care position, if this does not continue to place vulnerable adults at risk of harm. If there are no such positions, employers are advised to take legal advice if the only option is to dismiss the worker.