Pupils losing out under new vetting rules, experts warn

The government's new vetting rules in UK are forcing "excessive bureaucracy" and a string of "unintended consequences" on schools, education leaders warned yesterday.

Since the introduction of the regulations, schools have seen foreign language trips cancelled, fewer work and volunteering placements available, the loss of visiting speakers and fewer parents able to help out with school events, they said.

Seven organisations representing both state and private schools have now taken the step of writing to Children's Secretary Ed Balls to raise their concerns about the new vetting and barring scheme.

They say the system is "disproportionate" to the risks it is trying to combat, and is still not a guarantee of safety.

The letter says: "We are writing regarding our joint concern about the excessive bureaucracy being incurred by schools and other public bodies as a result of vetting and barring systems.

"You will recognise that the first duty of our colleagues is to the health, safety and care of the student population. We take that duty extremely seriously, however we believe that the newly introduced system is disproportionate to risk.

"We realise that this system has been developed as a response to tragic incidents involving the abuse of children, and we share your horror and outrage that such events could happen. However, the new system, even if thorough, will not be an absolute guarantee of safety."

It says that schools have faced numerous problems including: excessive bureaucracy; Potential damage to voluntary sports (and other) facilities; reduction in work placement opportunities; reduction in community engagement projects and opportunities, which conflicts with other government initiatives relating to "social cohesion" and "public benefit".

It also puts at risk the Government's intended policy of volunteering for all 14 to 19-year-olds.

Other problems include: Loss of volunteering opportunities for pupils on Duke of Edinburgh programmes; cessation of language exchange trips and considerable negative impact on the teaching of modern languages; reduction of the support of parent volunteers in schools, such as for school plays, trips and fund raising; loss of occasional visiting speakers; difficulty in obtaining emergency support staff for example, plumbers, heating engineers, midday meals supervisors; bureaucratic hurdles to senior school pupils helping out in junior schools, for example to help with reading; and a backlog of checks waiting to be cleared.

The controversial Vetting and Barring scheme was introduced in the hope it would reduce the risk of abusers being allowed to gain access to children and abuse their trust.