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Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [HL]

My Lords, I, too, welcome the Bill. As the Minister said, we are all aware of the tragic circumstances which led to the Bichard inquiry, and to the legislation to deal with the loopholes in the present system. Like every bishop, I have sought enhanced disclosures for hundreds of clergy and volunteers who work in our schools and churches. I am well aware of some of the loopholes in the system. I know that I speak for all Church and religious leaders in saying that the safety of children and vulnerable adults in our care must be paramount. The education division of the Church of England and the National Society for Promoting Religious Education strongly support the Bill’s proposals to minimise the risk of children and others suffering harm at the hands of those who work with them. Through its schools, which educate nearly 1 million children and young people, the Church of England has responsibility for well over 4,000—indeed, nearly 5,000—institutions in which ““regulated activity””, as the Bill defines it, takes place. Because of our existing commitment to ensure that children remain safe from harm, dioceses and diocesan boards of education have well-established child protection policies. We recognise, however, the need to strengthen the provisions and to make mandatory provision to vet all who work with children. We have welcomed involvement in the preparation of this Bill through the consultative group on child protection, the education sub-group of the Criminal Records Bureau and the steering group, which has developed online training material for head teachers and governors for safer recruitment and selection of school staff. In addition, the Board of Education responded to the consultation on Making Safeguarding Everybody’s Business: A Post-Bichard Vetting Scheme in July 2005. In addition to their schools and other institutions, the Churches and faith communities engage with children and young people on a voluntary basis. In recruiting volunteers as well as employees, we have sought to implement best practice in establishing child protection policies, which cover all involved in working with children and other vulnerable people. But we are aware that the process of vetting volunteers is less easy to regulate, and it remains a matter of concern in respect of this Bill that the concentration on regulated activity in the list of establishments in Schedule 3 may not fully cover the many organisations in the voluntary sector where children need equal protection. I would appreciate clarification on the Minister’s assertion in his opening remarks that volunteers are fully covered in the legislation. There are always limitations on any scheme, however comprehensive it attempts to be. Bitter experience has shown that even enhanced disclosure will not identify every person at risk of harming children, but only those involved in incidents that have been notified to the police or other authorities. Our confidence in the proposed board and a better system must not replace the need for sound and rigorous techniques of recruitment and interview, alongside these proposals. Sadly, there remain some people without moral scruple, who can find ways of having access to children and young people, however thorough the systems are. No system can be presented as foolproof or as removing the onus on every citizen to develop and uphold a sense of personal and moral responsibility for children and vulnerable adults. The existence of a barred list will not usurp that responsibility on all of us. Conversely, if the public, and employers in particular, are to have confidence in the list, decisions about it must be made transparently and by suitably qualified people, as Schedule 1 proposes. It must be demonstrable that it is an improvement on the present system. I therefore welcome the consultation to which the Minister referred in introducing the Bill to the House. The vast majority of our children and vulnerable adults is educated and cared for in institutions which treat them with dignity and care—a dignity and care which reflects their uniqueness as human beings whom the Churches regard as being made in God’s image. I believe, therefore, that we should welcome the Bill and trust that effective procedures to maintain that record will lessen the culture of suspicion which too often undermines our confidence in each other and devalues the generous goodwill which leads our teachers and carers, both voluntary and employed, to give us their skills for the benefit and well-being of our children. Yes, we need a culture of vigilance but also a recognition that there is a difference between a culture of vigilance and the culture of suspicion which undermines the necessary trust upon which the care of children and vulnerable adults should be based. I welcome the Bill and trust that through its proposals and improved vetting and barring procedures it will achieve the purpose of minimising the risk to our children and vulnerable adults. I look forward to working with others in the House in guiding it through its stages and improving it where necessary. Others have mentioned improvements which need attention and I shall not repeat them. I give the Bill an overall welcome. I congratulate the Minister on introducing it to us.