Vetting scheme 'put on hold'
June 15, 2010
Posted by:Oliver Jeffcott
Home Secretary Theresa May has announced that the registration of people working with children, which was due to begin next month, has been put on hold. Instead, there will be a costly review. The Home Secretary said that the scheme is "disproportionate and overly burdensome" and "what we have got to do is actually trust people again.”
Unfortunately, Theresa May seems to have a short memory. The scheme was initially put in place following the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by school caretaker Ian Huntley. This horrific example shows that simply "trusting people" not to abuse or murder children does not work. If the vetting scheme was in place then, it may well have saved these girls lives.