Section 98 Individuals providing care funded by direct payments
254.Section 98 extends the provisions of PoCA to child care workers employed through certain direct payments. Subsection (1) enables a local authority to refer to the PoCA list a relevant individual whom the authority considers is guilty of misconduct which harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm. “Relevant individual” is defined as a person who is or has been employed to provide care to a child, where that employment is funded by a direct payment under section 17A of the Children Act.
255.Subsections (2) and (3) amend PoCA so as to require a local authority to check whether an individual is in the list before making a direct payment, if the parent proposing to employ the individual asks it to. Regulations made under section 103 will permit these checks to be made pending the coming into operation of the Criminal Records Bureau.