http://community.cypnow.co.uk/blogs/policy_and_practice/default.aspxWritten by Pam Hibbert, principal policy officer at Barnardo&#39;senCommunityServer 2007 SP2 (Build: 20611.960)http://community.cypnow.co.uk/blogs/policy_and_practice/archive/2008/02/21/protecting-children-from-sex-offenders-will-public-disclosure-help.aspx#1228Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:31:22 GMTc36e2312-80d6-4316-9a39-a3ff9eaec1f8:1228Clive Wood<p>Experience from practice in Scotland suggests that a significant problem in protecting young people is Employment Legislation, or perhaps more specifically, the Tribunals understanding of the issues around soft disclosure in the context of dismissal. </p> <p>In 2007, I managed to achieve a degree of success at the Employment Appeals Tribunal in Edinburgh, when a decision to dismiss a worker on &quot;Soft Disclosure&quot; information was upheld after the local Tribunal found in favour of the employee. The risks the employee presented were significant in residential care, and it was a real surprise to find the local Tribunal failed to recognise these issue. </p> <p>It is vital that when legislation is approved to protect young people, employers are allowed to use certain soft disclosures to terminate contacts, particularly if they feel this is justifiable in the context of vulnerable young people.. After a long battle, case law is now established in Scotland to achieve this. New Legislation takes some time to filter into practice, the above took almost three years of legal advice and some hard decisions to establish the practical benefit of the new Disclosure system in Scotland..</p> <p>Clive Wood is Director of Staff2Care.com, a new social care staffing agency based in central Scotland.</p> <img src="http://community.cypnow.co.uk/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1228" width="1" height="1">http://community.cypnow.co.uk/blogs/policy_and_practice/archive/2008/02/21/protecting-children-from-sex-offenders-will-public-disclosure-help.aspx#423Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:36:54 GMTc36e2312-80d6-4316-9a39-a3ff9eaec1f8:423Tim Davies<p>How we respond to the risk of offenders - and being able to balance the risks and benefits is a key issue right now - particularly in light of government making explicit policies and strategies on the sole topic of 'safety'... </p> <p>I'd be really interested to know what you see being on both sides of the 'benefit' and 'risk' balance? (Perhaps a blogged list...?)</p> <img src="http://community.cypnow.co.uk/aggbug.aspx?PostID=423" width="1" height="1">