In response to recommendation 19 of the Bichard Inquiry Report, which followed the murder of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, this Bill introduces a new vetting and barring scheme for people whose jobs bring them into contact with children and vulnerable adults.
The bill will:
integrate the two existing children's barred lists (Protection of Children Act list and List 99), and will align this new list with the vulnerable adults barred list;
introduce pre-employment vetting to identify and bar individuals who might harm children or vulnerable adults before they start work;
ensure that when relevant new information about an individual comes to light, the initial barring decision will be reviewed, and employers will be notified if the individual is subsequently barred;
bring in instant checking, so that once people have been vetted, subsequent employers will be able to check their barred status instantly;
cover all those defined as working with children and/or vulnerable adults;
provide that the decision of whether or not to bar an individual will be made by an independent panel of experts, rather than by ministers.
