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Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [Lords]

I take the hon. Gentleman’s point and the Government may well need to respond to it. However, I am considering the number of exchanges that can be quantified in the available statistics. When there is little or no checking, some establishments recruit host families on the streets. Another loophole is that nothing stops an individual setting up a school and advertising it on the internet. Without regulation, there is a potential problem. The police in my constituency have raised several disturbing cases and some potential cases in the past two years. Their view is that something needs to be done quickly. There have been several incidents of convicted paedophiles, known to the police, being identified as acting as host families. Indeed, in one case, a person on the sex offenders register applied to one of the language schools and specified the age and sex of the child whom they wanted to come and stay. In that case, the police could intervene—they found out about it. However, it is not written down anywhere that that is the police’s job. We do not know about the cases that do not come to the attention of the police or other authorities. In another case, a host was found in bed with an under-age student. I stress that such cases are isolated when one considers the many thousands of foreign students who come to these shores. I do not want to give the impression that there is a massive problem, but it takes only one case to do enormous damage to a young person and the reputation of an excellent industry. The foreign language school industry, when properly regulated and following proper guidelines, is such an industry. I first raised the matter more than two years ago with the relevant Minister, who, at that time, was the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge). I requested and was granted a meeting with her to discuss the concerns of the police in my constituency and I brought an officer with me. She was aghast that such potential for trouble existed in seaside resorts and she promised to raise it with the regulatory body of the English language schools. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, that meeting never took place. I followed the matter up this year, this time requesting a meeting with the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle). She too was aghast at this potential loophole and concerned that, even if the Bill covered it, it would be some time before the regulations were in place to protect these vulnerable people.