Barring system will only check those who have intensive contact with children

Only people who have intensive contact with children will need to be vetted as part of proposals to slim-down the barring system.

According to The Daily Telegraph, people who have infrequent contact with children will be spared the checks.

The programme would have required around nine million people to be checked.

The mandatory registration scheme, administered by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, had been due to come into effect in October 2010, but was halted by the Home Office in June last year.

Separate reviews of the vetting and barring processes and criminal records checks were launched in October last year, with the government vowing to bring the systems back to “common sense levels”.

Crime reduction charity Nacro has cautiously welcomed the change, having previously raised concerns that there were too many jobs covered by the vetting and barring scheme where people come into contact with children as part of their normal duties.