Govt buckles to soften anti-paedophile checks

LONDON - Moves to vet every adult who works with children are set to be watered down in Britain after the Government ordered a last-minute review of the controversial anti-paedophile scheme.

Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, acted amid fury that the criminal record checks would affect parents who give lifts to children on behalf of sports teams or voluntary organisations such as the Cubs and Scouts.

The move comes after prominent children's authors, including Philip Pullman and Anthony Horowitz, threatened to stop visiting schools rather than subject themselves to the "insulting" requirement.

Critics say the checks - drawn up in response to the Soham murders by school caretaker Ian Huntley - are intrusive and cumbersome. They have argued that it would undermine community life as law-abiding adults decide it is too bureaucratic to be involved in charities and local organisations.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has claimed that the moves, which could cover one-quarter of the adult population, will stop people doing things that were "perfectly safe and normal".

In the face of the growing protests, Balls announced a fresh examination of the vetting and barring scheme even though it is due to be phased in from next month. He said the review was intended to ensure the "right balance" has been struck over how many people would face checks.

Under current guidelines, anyone who has frequent or intensive contact with children or vulnerable adults - defined as once a month or three times in a single month - faces compulsory vetting. The Children's Secretary has instructed Sir Roger Singleton, the head of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority, to examine whether the rules on frequency and intensity need to be relaxed.

Balls said: "In recent weeks some concerns have been voiced about this specific point. The responses we have received to our consultations suggest to me we have got the balance about right, but it is tremendously important that we are certain that this is so."

In a letter to Barry Sheerman, the chairman of the Commons children, schools and families committee, Balls said he wanted to be sure the Government had "drawn the line in the right place on this issue".

Balls stressed yesterday that the checks would not apply to private agreements - for instance when friends run each other's children to school. He added: "Nor will it cover instances where parents work with children at school or a youth club on an 'occasional or one-off basis'."

But the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said the Government was in retreat over the issue: "When a scheme designed to protect them is criticised from all quarters, including children's charities, it is clear that it has gone too far.

"The Government is in danger of creating a world in which we think every adult who approaches children means to do them harm."

Anyone who falls within the rules and is not cleared by the ISA before working or volunteering faces a fine of £5000 ($11,840) and any organisation which uses them without checks could be fined the same amount. Registration costs £64 for those seeking employment with children or vulnerable adults but is free for volunteers.

Singleton has argued that the vetting and barring scheme was designed to ensure those who abused children could not just move elsewhere and carry on abusing.

Addressing the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Congress in Swansea, he said: "The scheme is not about interfering with the sensible arrangements which parents make with each other to take their children to schools and clubs."

The checks were set up after the Bichard report into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by Huntley, who had secured his job despite previously facing accusations of sex with under-age girls.

As it currently stands, MPs who regularly visit schools in their constituencies, parents who allow foreign pupils to stay in their houses as part of school exchange programmes and builders who carry out work on school buildings during term time will all need to register.

- INDEPENDENT