A school in Leicester banned a father from watching his son’s egg and spoon because he didn’t have a CRB check – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicester/10558648.stm An extreme case, perhaps, but not alone – we’ve had reports of demands for CRB checks for parents going on the rugby bus, or attending the school disco as helpers. In many cases these regulations are coming from Ofsted and other bodies. We need to expose the general climate, and official regulations, that lead to schools acting in this way, rather than to blame particular headteachers.

In our volunteering report we documented the harmful effect of vetting on volunteering. There is also a large nearly-voluntary sector – where people work with children for very little money, and yet because on paper they are ’employed’ would have to finance their own CRBs. I remember my piano teacher charged £2.50 an hour – a token amount really. This email comes from a trampoline coach who falls into this category – she calculated that it would take her 6 weeks to pay back the costs of CRB checks and other fees. We have already reported on the case of Peter Bulmer,…

The Society of Authors just sent us this statement in support of our vetting campaign: ‘The Society of Authors supports the Manifesto Club’s campaign against the over-cautious and over-complicated procedures for vetting and barring of those working with young people. The current CRB system is clearly unworkable, with many of our members who work on a regular part time or voluntary basis with young or vulnerable people reporting the need to obtain multiple clearances for each site they visit or each group with whom they have contact. Despite statements from the Department for Education that CRB checks should not apply to authors,…

I just received this excellent document from James Underwood, Vice President NASUWT Cambridge Branch, listing his concerns with the ISA’s decision making process – including the fact that the ISA does not have to prove that an event took place in order to bar somebody, and that somebody could be barred for the actions of their friends or associates. The full document is here…

Tom Addiscott, a Church of England Reader, has just sent the following email to the church authorities who were asking for him to be CRB checked. More and more volunteers are taking this stand; if enough of us do it we will be strong enough to turn this thing around. Tom’s email reads: ‘I am sorry to be awkward but I object strongly to the CRB process, which I consider insulting and humiliating. I have no criminal record but if the parish wants to regard me as a potential child molester that is their problem. CRB was a knee-jerk reaction to the…

This email from a junior golf coordinator puts the case for informal club vetting of volunteers, rather than relying on CRBs and other box-ticking. It should be adults’ responsibility to look out for children in their club. It’s a good case, very well made… ‘My arguments have always been about the effect the current CRB-checking and the proposed Vetting and Barring (V & B) schemes are having on the retention of experienced Club-based volunteers, and the recruitment of suitable new volunteers. Most sport is Club-based in this and, indeed, most countries. Within those Clubs there have always been people who levitate towards…