Soham detective attacks vetting plan

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The police officer who led the investigation into the Soham murders has added to the opposition against the government's Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS).

Writing in The Times, the now retired Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Stevenson, said: "No amount of legislation, record keeping or checking could prevent this type of crime completely. Thankfully it is extremely rare. Children are far more likely to be killed by a family member or on the roads."

Stevenson said a state of paranoia was being created and called for things to be put back "on an even keel". Using an example from his own life, where he was told to stop taking photos of his grandson at a football match, he said that technically made him a suspected paedophile. "Along, I fear, with millions of other parents and grandparents."

Due to this growing opposition, the Children's Secretary Ed Balls has announced a review into the controversial scheme.

Balls revealed in a letter to the Labour chairman of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, Barry Sheerman MP, that a review will take place to decide when it is appropriate for someone to be vetted.

A critical point in this debate, Balls said, was deciding how precisely the "frequent or intensive" principle should be applied to real life situations. The principle includes anyone who works with children or vulnerable adults on a frequent, intensive or overnight basis. But, he added, this did not mean when parents give friends' children a lift to school or Cubs or instances where parents work with children at school or a youth club on an occasional basis.

Due to the apparent uncertainty and concern regarding these rules, Balls has asked the chairman of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), Sir Roger Singleton, to check if "the government has drawn the line in the right place on this issue".

"I agree that clear public information is vital, in part to dispel any misunderstandings about the scheme, and I confirm that we will take steps to produce it in the coming months, well in advance of when the scheme will impact on individuals who work or volunteer with children," Balls said.

Balls has asked Sir Roger to report back by the beginning of December about whether adjustments needed to be made.

In response, the shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "All of this is so vague that in reality clubs and other organisations up and down the country will act to be on the safe side. So they'll register all of the parents who are involved even loosely. So the result is we'll get this huge expensive and cumbersome bureaucracy as well as volunteers giving up."

Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary Chris Huhne welcomed the review as the plans "were so disproportionate that they were going to put off masses of people from volunteering".

Josie Appleton, convenor of the Manifesto Club, said: "This law has been tweaked and fiddled with enough already. The government is trying to save something that is fundamentally unworkable. The trouble with the definitions of 'frequently' and 'intensively' is that they are entirely random bureaucratic categories - at odds with the way that local and community life works."