Media and Press

Government halts vetting and barring scheme registration
Wed 30th Jun 10 - 9:52

Published Tuesday 22 June 2010 at 17:59 by Natalie Woolman, Stage News.

Home Secretary Theresa May has stopped registration for the controversial vetting and barring scheme, designed to protect children and vulnerable adults, six weeks before it was due to kick in.

The scheme, which was criticised by performers such as Ian McKellen as well as War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, will now be reviewed and remodelled.

It would have applied to anyone working with children or vulnerable adults once a week or more and therefore encompass amateur and youth theatre groups and performers going into schools.

Their records would be kept continuously up-to-date, rather than updated every three years as is the case with the current system of Criminal Records Bureau checks. Voluntary registration for the new scheme was due to start on July 26.

In a statement announcing the review, May said “a measured approach” was needed, adding that the government “will respond with a scheme that has been fundamentally remodelled”.

This process will be co-ordinated by the Home Office in partnership with the Department of Health and the Department for Education but it has not been announced yet what the scope of the review will be or when its findings are expected.

Rose Blackley, who works for Shakespeare 4 Kidz, welcomed the review, describing the proposed vetting and barring system as “extreme”. However, she added that she felt the current system needs to be examined.

She said: “The problem with the CRB is you renew it every three years, but then there is three years where there’s nothing going on, so I am not sure I am entirely happy with it just as it is.”

Entertainment lawyer at Ralli Solicitors Keith Arrowsmith agreed that the current system is not comprehensive. He commented: “I think there’s a very difficult balance between a worker’s right to earn a living and not to have their personal life being investigating needlessly and to balance that against the individual children’s rights and the vulnerable adults’ rights to be protected.

“I suspect what has happened here is that the scheme was designed to be very wide, which people didn’t like and then was designed to be limited, which then created these loopholes, which means that the whole logic behind the scheme was destroyed.”

Existing arrangements under the scheme will continue. These include - the Independent Safeguarding Authority making barring decisions and maintaining two lists detailing those barred from working with children and vulnerable adults, the existing requirements concerning CRB and Access Northern Ireland checks and employers’ duty to report any information on an individual working with vulnerable groups who has caused harm or who the employer believes poses a risk.

The vetting and barring scheme was designed in response to the Bichard Inquiry into the Soham murders by Ian Huntley. It called for better information sharing between authorities.