Children and young people - chaperone service

Chaperone Licences

All children who perform on stage or in television, films, commercials, work in paid/professional sport or who work as models have their welfare and safety protected by the following legislation.

• The Children and Young Persons Act 1933
• The Children and Young Persons Act 1963
• The Children (Performances) Regulations 1968
• The Children (Protection at Work) Regulations 1998
• The Children (Performances) (Amendment) 2000

Chaperones - Children must be in the care of either their parent (the child's legal guardian) or an approved Chaperone at all times. Note: grandparents, uncles, child minders and the like are NOT legal guardians (unless they are recognised as such by the courts), therefore, need to be approved in order to chaperone a child.  Parents, unless they are also licensed chaperones, cannot chaperone children other than their own.
A chaperone is an adult who supervises children when they perform. The chaperone is acting in loco parentis for a child (on behalf of the parent). A chaperone should exercise the care that a parent/guardian might be reasonably expected to give that child.

A chaperone’s first priority is always to the child. They will have to take charge of the child (unless the parent(s)/guardian are present) whilst they are performing. They have overall responsibility for the child’s care and control.

If a chaperone feels that a child is being overworked or is unwell/not fit to continue then they have a duty to inform the producer that they are not prepared to allow the child to continue for that day.

When the child arrives at the performance location the chaperone must ensure that the child is registered as being on site. Schedule 3 of The Children (Performances) Regulations 1968 requires certain records to be kept by the show’s producer. It is the producer’s responsibility to ensure that the records are maintained. The chaperone must make sure this information is being kept.

A chaperone is expected to supervise children when they are not required to perform. This supervision includes:

• ensuring that the children have appropriate amounts, and types of refreshments,
• ensuring that appropriate behaviour is maintained,
• ensuring that the child/children do not leave the location without their parent(s)/guardian or nominated adult.

Chaperones should keep a note of important contacts, for example, their Licensing Authority, the child's Licensing Authority, the Local Authority in whose area the child is performing, the child's Agent and the child's Parent/Legal Guardian.

The Process of Applying

To request an application form you will need to contact the Child Employment and Entertainment Officer. You will need to apply for a Criminal Record check as part of your chaperone application.

When you receive the application form and CRB form please fill it in and return to the address overleaf.

Once we have received the application and find that it is satisfactory we will contact the referees you have nominated on your form.

Once all the references have been returned you will be invited to come in for an informal interview. There will be a short informal meeting asking questions about how you would handle certain situations as a chaperone.

We ask that you bring in your identification (original copies) to be photocopied and sent off with your CRB application. Information on the type of identification you will need is listed in the guide sent out with the CRB application form.

We then send off your CRB application and wait for it to be returned. This can take up to eight weeks. Once your CRB check has been cleared we will send you your Chaperone Licence.

You will need to have this on your person whenever you are chaperoning.

Criminal Record Checks

Disclosure applications replace the previous Police Check system used by most Local Authorities and comes under the Department of Health's Criminal Record Bureau not the LA. You will be required to attend this office in person and produce identification documentation. This will then be sent with your application to the Criminal Records Bureau for checking. The results of this check will be sent to the applicant and the LA separately. Once this information is received a decision will be made whether to issue a chaperone licence.

Definition of a Child

For the benefit of the legislation a young person is a child until they are no longer of compulsory education age.

Compulsory Education

A young person is still of compulsory school age until the last Friday in June of the school year (1st September - 31st August) in which they reach the age of 16

Broadcast Performance

Films, TV, Video - all performances which will be broadcast.

Non-Broadcast Performances

Theatre, modelling, sport (activities), which are not broadcast.

Child Protection

If there are ever serious child protection issues, don't wait, contact the POLICE and Social Care immediately and remove the child from the situation. The LA will provide you with Child Protection Procedures when you apply.

Record Sheets

Production companies are required to log certain activities during a performance i.e. arrival & departure times at the place of the performance etc. In many cases this task is designated to the chaperone who completes the forms and submits them to the company at the end of each day. But, the legal responsibility for record keeping is still with the Licence Holder.

Renewal

A chaperone needs to re-apply for their licence every year by completing a renewal application form and providing two photographs. Criminal Record checks are renewed every three years.

Eligibility
None.

Required Customer Information
None.

Service Level Agreement and Turnaround
10 working days.

More information about this service

Contact Us

Address:
Education Welfare Service
8th Floor Civic Centre
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XQ
Map

Telephone:
020 8379 3438

Fax:
020 8379 3337

Opening Hours:
Monday – Thursday 8.45am – 5.00pm
Friday 8.45am – 4.45pm

Useful Links