This email comes from a pre-school professional, about the difficulties of taking photos of kids:

This post on a police chat forum shows that even the boys in blue aren’t above suspicion:

This email just came in, showing the way CRBs are affecting those who are doing most to help society’s most vulnerable:

The UK government has done a u-turn on carrying out criminal records checks on businesses that employ or train under-16s – following the publication of the Manifesto Club’s latest briefing document on the culture of vetting.

In the Case Against Vetting report on model aircraft clubs, we noted enthusiasts’ concerns that the child protection bureaucracy would stamp out adult volunteering.

A headteacher’s position was questioned recently, after a CRB check revealed that he had a brush with police over the matter of an overdue fishing licence. The chairman of the school governors received notice of the headteacher’s criminal infringement, and there were questions raised about his suitability to continue in a position of authority.

I turned up for my regular physiotherapy appointment today and was told that we would ‘have to be supervised’, because my therapists’ CRB check had not come through. He had already had three checks, and because he was from China the whole thing was probably a waste of time, but still, anybody receiving medical treatment is classified as a ‘vulnerable adult’ and therefore requires CRB protection.

I’ve just had an update from Mark Timlett on how new child protection guidelines are reducing volunteers in junior golf. (These guidelines, posted here, include gems of wisdom including: to call the police if a child’s parents are late collecting them – on no accounts must you take them home! – and also that clubs organising junior events should attend a ‘Safe Sport Events’ workshop and purchase the ‘Safe Sport Events Pack’.) Mark writes:

A piece in the Guardian reports that CRB checks could obstruct the government’s new diploma qualification, which puts emphasis on work experience. Teaching leaders said that the cost and trouble of the checks meant that businesses were reluctant to take on students.

Richard Webster has written this penetrating analysis of the Jersey Skull fragment story (after a bone fragment was found at a Jersey children’s home). It’s a good read, calmly dissecting the facts behind what he calls a ‘media frenzy about murderous paedophiles’.