Employers’ duties remain as child protection scheme is scrutinised

The roll-out of the vetting and barring scheme monitoring people who work with children or vulnerable adults has been halted, pending review. The home secretary’s announcement last month was not unexpected. The coalition agreement stated the intention of reviewing the regime in order to “scale it back to common-sense levels”.

Following its introduction last October, the new scheme had got off to a shaky start when it met with widespread adverse publicity. This resulted in a review and some significant changes. But some critics had hoped it would be withdrawn altogether. The Royal College of Nursing indicated recently, for example, that it would seek a judicial review to delay its implementation.