London, September 12: The government was under increasing pressure last night to reduce the scale of its controversial child-protection register, after the realisation that full implementation of the scheme will force one in four adults to undergo criminal record checks.
Widespread public anger over the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), which will eventually hold the details of 11.3 million people, prompted the shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, to say: “This scheme cannot be allowed to go ahead in this way. We would review the whole safeguarding process and scale it back so that common sense applies. Of course we have to check out those people who have jobs working with children, but the idea that we would vet 11 million parents is complete nonsense.”
–Agencies