Volunteers not put off by criminal checks
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Nine out of ten people are in favour of criminal record checks for those working or volunteering with children, according to research carried out for the Criminal Records Bureau.
Home Office minister Meg Hillier said the research, which was based on 3,671 interviews by Ipsos Mori, showed that people are not put off volunteering by CRB checks. "Most people are only too willing to be checked and understand it protects children and vulnerable adults," she said.
Jan Cosgrove, national secretary of children's charity Fair Play for Children, said: "We know of one man convicted of nine cases of child abuse and who had almost certainly abused many more, that was stopped from working with children following a check. This man was found in a group not using CRB checks three months after he was released from prison. It's increasingly fashionable to attack CRB checks as an example of red tape. No system is perfect, but who would want someone with convictions for sexual abuse looking after their child?"
Denise King, chief executive of Girlguiding UK, said: "CRB checks have had no discernible impact on volunteer recruitment; we have around 100,000 adult volunteers and supporters, and last year the number increased by over 1,000. "
