The communications team at the Vetting and Barring Scheme are pleased to announce that full guidance about the Scheme is available for download now.

This document contains details on:

• The scope of the Scheme
• Barring arrangements
• Responsibilities and duties for both employers and volunteer organisers, and the duties for those individuals you take on
• Timescales for the phased implementation of the Scheme
• Explanation of transitional arrangements around Scheme introduction

In response to the overwhelming interest in the subject, the guidance makes special mention of those areas where the Scheme does not apply and discusses the points raised by Sir Roger Singleton when he reported into the boundaries of the Scheme in December 2009.

This full guidance release will be followed by a suite of 'sector specific' guidance documents, which will show how the Scheme will be applied in different areas of work and volunteering activities and will be published by our partners from the appropriate government departments.

We will make printed copies of this full guidance document available on request from our contact centre on 0300 123 1111. We expect these to be available from 5 April.

A detailed briefing document about the Vetting and Barring Scheme from English UK can also be downloaded here.