The Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments and Practitioner Psychologists) Order 2009

Amendment of the General Osteopathic Council (Professional Conduct Committee) (Procedure) Rules 2000

19.  After rule 26 of the General Osteopathic Council (Professional Conduct Committee) (Procedure) Rules 2000(1), insert the following rule—

“Cases relating to barring entries

26A.— (1) In cases relating to barring entries, the order of proceedings shall be as follows—

(a) the Solicitor shall be requested to adduce evidence of any barring entry and its circumstances;

(b) evidence relating to the barring entry, and of any findings of fact made by the Independent Barring Board or the Scottish Ministers on which that barring entry is based, may be adduced in the form of information—

(i) provided by the Secretary of State under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 or the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007,

(ii) provided by the Scottish Ministers under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007;

(c) if in respect of any barring entry, no evidence is adduced that the barring entry has been made, the chair shall announce that the barring entry has not been proved;

(d) the chair shall ask the osteopath (“O”) whether O accepts each barring entry of which evidence is adduced, and shall announce that any such accepted barring entry has been proved;

(e) in respect of any barring entry not so accepted, O or O’s representative may address the Committee and adduce both oral and documentary evidence to show that O was not the person in respect of whom the barring entry was made;

(f) thereafter the Solicitor may, with the Committee’s leave, seek to rebut any evidence of O by adducing evidence to that effect;

(g) the Solicitor and then O or O’s representative may address the Committee.

(2) On conclusion of the proceedings in paragraph (1), the Committee shall consider each barring entry alleged in the complaint, other than those accepted or announced not to be proved, and shall determine whether or not each such barring entry is proved and then announce its determination.

(3) Where the Committee have announced that a barring entry has been proved or where a barring entry has been accepted, the chair shall—

(a) invite the Solicitor to address the Committee and adduce any further evidence as to character and previous history of O and the circumstances leading to the barring entry, and for these purposes—

(i) a document from the Independent Barring Board, authenticated in whatever way the General Council may approve and adduced under paragraph (1)(a), that provides a statement of the findings of fact made by the Board that led to the barring entry shall be conclusive evidence of the facts found proved by the Board, and

(ii) a document from the Scottish Ministers, authenticated in whatever way the General Council may approve and adduced under paragraph (1)(a), that provides a statement of the findings of fact made by the Scottish Ministers that led to the barring entry shall be conclusive evidence of the facts found proved by the Scottish Ministers;

(b) invite O or O’s representative to address the Committee by way of mitigation and adduce any further evidence as to the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (a).

(4) The Solicitor and O or O’s representative, shall, if appropriate, be invited to address the Committee on whether the barring entry in question has any material relevance to the fitness of the osteopath concerned to practise osteopathy.

(5) The Committee shall then proceed in accordance with rules 35 to 39.

(6) For the purposes of this rule, “barring entry” means—

(a) the Independent Barring Board including a person in a barred list (within the meaning of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 or the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007); or

(b) the Scottish Ministers including a person in the children’s list or the adults’ list (within the meaning of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007).”

(1)

Scheduled to S.I. 2000/241.