UK Act of Parliament 2006 United Kingdom

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

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At a glance

Enforced by

Ofsted, CIW, CQC, DBS

What's here

13 compliance obligations, 13 practical guides across 3 topics · 8 journeys

Penalty landscape

5 of 13 obligations carry imprisonment (5 years). 2 carry different penalties and 6 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Who this Act binds

Business-side actors with duties under this Act, ranked by how often they appear.

  • Any Person 6
  • Director or Officer 1
  • Distributor 1

Plus 5 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.

Step-by-step journeys using this legislation

Walkthroughs that take you from a real business situation to compliance.

Relevant guidance

Practical guides for businesses affected by this Act, ordered by how closely they engage with it.

Direct — cites this Act

4 guides

Supporting — topic alignment

8 guides

Mentioned in related content

1 guides
View all 13 guides →

Other Acts binding the same actors

For each actor bound by this Act, the other UK Acts that bind them most often. Useful for understanding the full compliance landscape facing each role.

Any Person also bound by 749 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Directors and Officers also bound by 224 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Distributors also bound by 33 other Acts (top 5 shown)

What this Act requires

Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.

Schedules

Browse 10 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
s.002

Barred lists

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • DBS must maintain barred lists and record prescribed information Statutory regulator
s.018

Offences: companies &c.

5 years imprisonment
  • Liability for safeguarding offence via director consent or neglect Director or Officer
s.033

Cessation of registration

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • DBS must cancel monitoring registrations upon request or specific triggers Statutory regulator
Browse 56 other sections — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.024

Monitoring: power to prescribe additional fees

s.050

Provision of information to the police etc.

Read the full Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance

Authoritative sources published by regulators or government explaining this legislation.

Enforcement and responsible bodies

The regulators that administer or enforce this legislation.

Ofsted

Primary

Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills

Inspects and regulates services providing education, training, and childcare in England. Inspects schools, colleges, initial teacher training, and children's social care. Registers …

CIW

Care Inspectorate Wales

Registers and inspects social care and childcare services in Wales. Regulates care homes, domiciliary care, children's homes, and childminders.

CQC

Care Quality Commission

Independent regulator of health and social care in England. Registers, monitors, inspects and rates hospitals, care homes, GP practices, dental surgeries, and …

DBS

Disclosure and Barring Service

Provides criminal record checks (Basic, Standard, and Enhanced) for employers and organisations. Maintains the children's and adults' barred lists. Employers in regulated …

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Browse legislation

Find other UK business legislation with related guidance.

Regulators

Learn more about the bodies that enforce this legislation.