15/06/2010

The controversial scheme adopted by Labour to protect children from paedophiles has been placed on hold, the Home Secretary, Theresa May has said.

Ministers feared the Vetting and Barring scheme, which was due to be introduced in England and Wales next month, would drive a “wedge” between adults and children.

The scheme may still be implemented in the long run. However, Ms May said this would be done with a ‘commonsense’ approach.

Nine million people who wanted to work with children or vulnerable adults would have had to register on the database, or face a £5,000 fine.

The plan was heavily criticised by nurses, teachers and actors such as Sir Ian McKellen, who said the measures were excessive.

It would also have affected parents who signed up for school driving rotas for weekly sports events or clubs.

The government says the vetting scheme would have been "disproportionate and overly burdensome".

The proposed vetting database had been a reaction to the murders of two schoolgirls by school caretaker Ian Huntley in Soham in 2002.

Announcing the move, the Home Secretary told the BBC that Labour’s proposals were "draconian".

"You were assumed to be guilty until you were proven innocent, and told you were able to work with children," she said.

"All sorts of groups out there were deeply concerned about this and how it was going to affect them.

"There were schools where they were very concerned that foreign exchanges could be finished as a result of this, parents were worried about looking after other people's children after school."

Civil liberties campaigners welcomed the news. Dylan Sharpe, the Campaign Director for Big Brother Watch, said: “While the new government’s tackling of vetting and barring is welcome, this cannot be just a temporary halt.

“The scheme is an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that is doing serious harm to the relationship between children and adults.’’

Mr Sharpe added: “A review is not a solution – the vetting and barring scheme should be scrapped.’’

The government is now contacting 66,000 organisations, including charities, voluntary groups and education authorities, to tell them that the planned registration is being cancelled.

Registrations for the controversial scheme were due to begin on 26th July.

Meanwhile, the Independent Safeguarding Authority, which was set to run this database, will continue to make decisions about barring inappropriate people from jobs.

It will also maintain the separate lists of people barred from working with children and vulnerable adults and the existing requirements for criminal record checks will continue to apply.