The government says the system of checks on child workers has become too bureaucratic Millions of people in England and Wales who work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults will no longer need criminal record checks, ministers say.
The change is part of the government’s Freedoms Bill, being unveiled later.
It also includes limits on police stop and search powers, ends indefinite storage of innocent people’s DNA, and gives residents more control over CCTV.
But some child protection campaigners fear it will be easier for adults in positions of trust to abuse children.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “The Freedoms Bill will protect millions of people from state intrusion in their private lives and mark a return to common sense government.
“Protecting children and keeping them safe remains our top priority, but it’s also important that well meaning adults are not put off working or volunteering with children”
Tim Loughton Children’s minister
“It delivers on our commitment to restore hard-won British liberties with sweeping reforms that will end the unnecessary scrutiny of law-abiding individuals.”
The new bill calls for a merging of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority to form “a streamlined new body providing a proportionate barring and criminal records checking service”.
That body will provide what ministers say will be a more “proportionate” checking service for about 4.5m people who work “closely and regularly” with children or vulnerable adults.
Teachers will continue to be vetted – but those who do occasional, supervised volunteer work will not.
Job applicants will also be able to see the results of their criminal record check before their prospective employer so mistakes can be corrected.
And the bill promises a “portability of criminal records checks between jobs to cut down on needless bureaucracy” and to stop “employers who knowingly request criminal records checks on individuals who are not entitled to them”.
Home Secretary Theresa May suspended Labour’s Vetting and Barring scheme – set up in 2009 after an inquiry into the murders of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman – in June last year and a review was carried out.
Children’s minister Tim Loughton said: “The new system will be less bureaucratic and less intimidating. It will empower organisations to ask the right questions and make all the appropriate pre-employment checks, and encourage everyone to be vigilant.
“Protecting children and keeping them safe remains our top priority, but it’s also important that well meaning adults are not put off working or volunteering with children.”
However, former police detective and child protection expert Mark Williams Thomas has told the BBC he believes the changes will give offenders more opportunities to gain access to children.
“If it was about keeping children safe then this vetting scheme would continue. CRB would continue in the fashion it is,” he said.
“This is simply about saving money, it’s about scrapping any ideas that Labour had previously. Whoever is advising the government on this position has got it completely wrong.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.