This article by Tom Whitehead has been extracted from the Daily Telegraph here A teacher’s human rights were breached after police included unproven allegations against him in a criminal records check, the High Court ruled yesterday. The PE teacher has not worked for more than two years because the allegation remained on his record even though police [...]
Proposed reforms to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act criticised – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This article by Lucy Corin appears on the Halsebury Law Exchange website here Imagine you are a middle-aged man with a young family looking to change career to work as a primary school teacher. When you were 12 you took a chocolate bar from a shop. You learnt a salutary lesson and never repeated this [...]
Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England given power to request any person or body to supply relevant information
April 4, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2013 has now been enacted. This amends Section 8 of the Act inserts by inserting Section 14B into the Children Act 2004(b) which gives Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England the power to request any person or body to supply such information as is specified in [...]
Lord Chief Justice calls for research into effects on children of giving evidence in abuse cases
April 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
According to an article in the Guardian by Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent, published on the 20th March, Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice calls for research into effects on children of giving evidence in abuse cases. Research should be carried out into the long-term affects on those who give evidence about sexual abuse when they [...]
Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council
March 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item appeared on the Guardian website on the 14th March 2012. Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council Pair plunged into ‘nightmare’ after anonymous tipoff about treatment of daughter are awarded £2,000 damages in high court Haringey civic centre in Wood Green, north London. The council mishandled its investigation, giving [...]
A breach of human rights: Court of Appeal rules CRB check law must go
February 5, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item by Paul Peachey appeared in the Independent on 29th January A major overhaul of the criminal records regime could be required after three judges ruled that the current system breached human rights. [See judgement here] The Court of Appeal today said that a blanket requirement for some job seekers to supply details of [...]
Using children as a moral shield
February 5, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a very thought provoking article by Frank Furedi in Spiked online here which is well worth reading. It begins …. The new TV campaign by child-protection group the NSPCC, launched in the UK today, urges people to report any concern that they might have about a child. Its exhortation – ‘Don’t [...]
Treating every allegation against Jimmy Savile as a ‘fact’ undermines justice
January 15, 2013 from 1 Comment
For a different slant on the Jimmy Saville Affair see the article written by Charles More published in the Daily Telegraph which is reproduced in full below The lead headline on the BBC website yesterday said: “Jimmy Savile scandal: Report reveals extent of abuse”. Well, I have read the whole of the report, and I [...]
Supreme Court hands down an important judgment which deals with conflicting human rights (Articles 3, 6 and 8) in disputed allegations casee
December 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Supreme Court has handed down an important judgment in Re A (A Child) [2012] UKSC 60 (12 December 2012) (Lady Hale, with whom Lords Neuberger, Clarke, Wilson and Reed agreed; appeal against a decision of McFarlane, Thorpe and Hallett LJJ) which deals with conflicting human rights (Articles 8 and 6, as well as an Article 3 claim) Summarising [...]
Drs advised to report child protection suspicions – even if it is just a hunch
September 5, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article appeared on the Daily Telegraph website on the 3rd September The General Medical Council has issued new advice for doctors on child protection urging them to report any fears, even just a hunch, to superiors. Mothers suffering post-natal depression, those using drink or drugs and with violent partners could need to be questionned [...]
Sex offender registration appeals introduced
September 5, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This items first appeared on the BBC website here on 1st September 2012 Sex offenders in England and Wales can now appeal against staying on the sex offenders register for life – 15 years to the day since it was introduced. Ministers said they would make “minimum possible changes” to comply with a 2010 Supreme [...]
Manifesto Club discover that many people who do not work directly with children are still required to submit to a CRB check
February 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A Manifesto Club report, Vetting Tree Surgeons, finds that nearly a million checks a year are being carried out by local authorities – at a cost of £45 million. Councils CRB checked hundreds of parent volunteers in schools, including parents listening to children read or helping out at the school disco. They also checked tree surgeons, [...]
Child sex abuse convictions rise 60% in six years
September 6, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The number of people convicted of sex offences on children under 16 in England and Wales has increased by nearly 60% in six years. The BBC said a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Justice found that 1,363 people were convicted in 2005, while in 2010 it was 2,135. The increase is being [...]
Sharon Shoesmith, the former Director of Children’s Services at Haringey Council, has won her appeal
June 1, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Sharon Shoesmith, the former Director of Children’s Services at Haringey Council, has won an appeal against her dismissal by her former employers and the Secretary of State for Education. Her appeal against Ofsted was dismissed. The Court of Appeal in R (Shoesmith) v Ofsted and others [2011] EWCA Civ 642 has said that the Secretary [...]
Children may be protected from giving evidence in criminal trials
May 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
According to an article on the Guardian web site written by Amelia Hill children may no longer be called to give evidence in the criminal courts except in the “most extraordinary circumstances”, even if that means risking their abusers going free, following a case due to be heard in June. The change could transform the [...]
People working with children and vulnerable adults can now be checked in Jersey for criminal records.
April 11, 2011 from Leave a Comment
People working with children and vulnerable adults can now be checked in Jersey for criminal records. The checks will be carried out in the island by the Jersey Vetting Bureau. It involves filling out an application form and showing proof of identity. Kevin McKerrell, from the Jersey Vetting Bureau, said: “This marks the start of [...]
Review on criminal records regime published
February 14, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The independent review by Sunita Mason on criminal records regime titled A Common Sense Approach – which FACT contributed to, has been published. In announcing the Review the Home Office said … “The first phase of this two phase review focused on issues concerned with the extent and demands of pre-employment vetting systems and the [...]