Made on 11 August 2026, the Crime and Policing (2026 Act) (Commencement No. 1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026 brings section 140 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 into operation on 1 September 2026. The instrument is narrow in form, but it starts a change to the safeguarding rules used to decide when work with children counts as regulated activity. The parent Act provides that section 140 is to be commenced by order made by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. (legislation.gov.uk)
The policy content sits in section 140 rather than in the order itself. According to the Act's explanatory notes, section 140 removes the provisions in Schedule 2 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 that kept supervised roles out of regulated activity in the child workforce. (legislation.gov.uk)
From commencement, a person who works closely and frequently with children in Northern Ireland can fall within regulated activity even where the role is supervised. The previous supervision carve-out will no longer, by itself, keep a child-facing role outside the regulated activity definition. (legislation.gov.uk)
For employers, voluntary bodies and public authorities, the operational consequence is vetting. The explanatory notes say roles within regulated activity are eligible for the highest level of criminal records checking, including a children's barred list check, because of the safeguarding risk attached to the work; that point can affect paid posts and volunteer roles alike. (legislation.gov.uk)
The change is narrower than the phrase regulated activity may suggest at first reading. Regulated activity remains a broader vetting concept in Northern Ireland law, but the commencement here is aimed at supervised roles in the child workforce rather than a wider rewrite of all safeguarding categories. (legislation.gov.uk)
The explanatory notes also state that section 140 does not alter the criminal law or change whether conduct amounts to a criminal offence. Its effect is classificatory: it moves certain supervised child-facing roles into the regulated activity framework, with the checking and barring consequences that follow from that status. (legislation.gov.uk)
The background to the measure is recommendation 9 of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse final report. The Act's explanatory notes say the recommendation was that frequent work or volunteering with children should be eligible for barred list checking even where the role is supervised; section 139 did that for England and Wales, and section 140 is the parallel Northern Ireland provision now being switched on. (legislation.gov.uk) With 1 September 2026 now fixed as the start date, organisations that rely on supervised staff or volunteers in child-facing posts have a short implementation window. Role assessments, recruitment templates and vetting processes may all need review before the new definition applies. (legislation.gov.uk)