PAIN FASO AND FACT CRB -PERTAINING TO

[Alison J Stevens]

Campaign: The Case Against Vetting

Those now being vetted include 16-year-olds teaching younger kids to read, parents volunteering at school, and foster carers’ friends. Running an after-school club is now subject to more stringent security
tests than selling explosives. The Manifesto Club is campaigning
against UK legislation such as the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act,
which makes vetting compulsory for all adults who work or volunteer
with kids. We argue for a commonsense approach to child protection,
that recognises the value of informal interaction between the
generations.

---

REPORTS

The Manifesto Club has published a number of reports showing how the expansion of vetting is damaging community life. The Case Against Vetting (October 2006) provides an overview of the dramatic expansion of vetting, and shows how this feeds a child protection bureaucracy, while
undermining everyday relationships between adults and children.

How the Child Protection Industry Stole Christmas (December 2006) shows how overregulation is affecting seasonal celebrations; and Hobby Clubs (April 2007) documents how some mixed-age clubs are banning children. A Briefing Document (April 2008) shows how the government's new vetting laws will be late, over-budget and over-stretched. A briefing document (July 2009) reports
on the government's new Guidance for the vetting database: Regulating Trust: Who will be on the vetting database? Vetting Under 18s: An Education in Mistrust (December 2009) shows the massive rise in CRB checks on children. PAIN CRB ISSUES

---

PETITION

We coordinated a Letter to the Times on 16 October 2006, opposing the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act. Signatories included Johnny Ball, Fay Weldon, the Scottish Parent
Teacher Council, the Mayor of Oxford, and Mary Kenny. This was made
into an online petition, which was signed by hundreds of teachers, parents, volunteers, and other concerned individuals.

UPDATE, July 2009: Sign the new Manifesto Club Petition Against the Vetting Database, which follows on from the 2006 petition.

---

PUBLIC MEETING

On Thursday 26 July 2007, we held a London meeting, Checkmate: Has vetting gone too far?, at the east London gallery The Spitz. The event was a lively and passionate affair, attended by youth workers, teachers, and many
others. See the video and transcripts for the evening.

---

BLOG

We also have a blog that keeps a track of damaging child protection measures - such as parents banned from photographing their own children in public, or
university lecturers vetted to teach 17-year-old students. If you have
a story to tell, email Josie Appleton.

---

MEDIA COVERAGE

The vetting campaign has featured widely in the UK media, including BBC Newsnight, The Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, PM programme; and also on radio in Australia and the USA. For more details, see the Manifesto Club in the news page.