Posts Tagged licensed to hug
Independent Safeguarding Authority not above the rule of law
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty on 16/11/2010
Last week, the High Court ruled in favour of the Royal College of Nursing, that a barring scheme imposed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority was unlawful. Although from one perspective the judgement is relatively inconsequential, pertaining only to procedure, it in fact represents a significant erosion of needless and overly protective vetting practices that are seeping into everyday life, writes Carolina Bracken.
Creeping (and creepy) CRB checks
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime, Education on 03/11/2010
The Sunday Times (pay only), we learn via Peter Risdon, has a report about 6th formers having to apply for Criminal Record Bureau checks to attend college courses. Some have been refused on the basis of minor offences (such as shoplifting) committed when they were children. This is another illustration of what Frank Furedi and Jennie Bristow argued in the Civitas report, Licensed to Hug: CRB checks are now more threatening to young people than protective, and are significantly reducing opportunities for many ordinary people to participate in public life.
Trial By Gossip
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime, Education on 18/08/2008
The Register, the online IT magazine, has a detailed report on the case of John Pinnington, a deputy head teacher who was fired from his job when an enhanced criminal records background (CRB) check registered allegations of abuse, allegations that were demonstrably weak. Pinnington took his case for judicial review, arguing that mere accusations should not have been disclosed to his employer. Lord Justice Richards has taken the view that they should be disclosed and that it was for the employer to decide whether an employee posed an acceptable risk as a consequence.