Child Protection

Esther Rantzen explained why she supports the new legislation

Adults who come into contact with children, through work or volunteering activities, will now have to be vetted continuously. The intention is make children safer - but critics say it won't work - and will put people off working with children.

The law will apply to England and Wales, with some clauses being extended to cover Northern Ireland.

The new child protection procedures ....damage adult-child relations and undermine the capacity of adults to contribute to children's welfare." The Manifesto Club - letter to the Times

Those who are opposed to the legislation say that the new child protection procedures will not protect children from harm.

Opponents from the pressure group, The Manifesto Club, sent a letter to the Times, which was published on Monday.

On Breakfast this morning: we debated the issues with Claire Fox from the Institute of Ideas who is a signatory to the letter in the Times, and to Esther Rantzen who supports the new legislation.

Esther Rantzen, believes that the legislation will increase the security of children by identifying offenders more easily and preventing them from gaining access to children.

But Claire Fox said there was paranoia surrounding the relationships between adults and chlildren. She said children would be safter if adults felt able to look out for everyone's children.

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Why the new legislaton?

The measures were brought forward following the row which engulfed the former Education Secretary Ruth Kelly in January.

Her department cleared Paul Reeve to work as a PE teacher in a Norfolk school even though he was on the sex offenders register and had been cautioned for accessing banned images on the internet.

She later confirmed that 88 sex offenders had not been barred from working in schools, while more had only received partial bans.

The new rules will introduce a new vetting and barring system for people who work with children and vulnerable adults - bringing relevant information together in one place for the first time.

They will also introduce tough penalties for those employers who fail to carry out the necessary checks or employ a barred person, including fines of up to £5,000.

The bill will make it possible for parents to check the status of private tutors, nannies, music teachers and carers and employers will be able to make instant checks of a prospective employee's status.