Vetting and Barring Scheme put on Hold

The Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed that the comprehensive vettting and barring scheme, due to commence next month, has been put on hold and will be subject to review to bring it 'back to common sense levels'.

The Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed that the comprehensive vettting and barring scheme, due to commence next month, has been put on hold and will be subject to review to bring it 'back to common sense levels'.

The scheme, described by the government as 'disproportionate and overly burdensome' would have required around 9 million staff and volunteers that worked with children and vulnerable adults to be registered and many voluntary organisations and schools were concerned that the new scheme would deter people from volunteering.

This concern was supported by a poll carried out by i-volunteer in March 2010 which showed that 65% of volunteers and volunteer managers believed that the vetting and barring scheme would put people off volunteering.

May has described the measures as 'draconian' where people that want to work with children are presumed guilty until proven innocent, she told the BBC "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."

Nearly 70,000 charities, voluntary groups and education authorities are now being informed by the government that the planned scheme will be cancelled. The existing requirements for criminal record checks will continue to apply.