Policy and Politics
Vetting and barring scheme leaves 'dangerous' loophole open to nannies
Omitting nannies from a new Government database for all those working with children leaves 'a dangerous loophole' that compromises children's safety, the payroll service Nannytax has warned.
Nannytax, which supports parents and nannies, has launched a campaign to include nannies in the Vetting and Barring Scheme over fears that otherwise, paedophiles would be able to exploit the system. It has set up a petition on the Number 10 website.
Asa Nilsdotter of Nannytax said, 'Once the VBS is in place, nanny positions will be the only opportunity for an individual to come into direct contact with children without having to have a police check.
'It could potentially be quite dangerous. Anybody can apply to be a nanny. In the economic crisis more and more people are finding nannies themselves through websites like Gumtree. This makes it more and more of a concern.'
Under the safeguarding scheme, which is being phased in over the next five years, anyone who works with children or vulnerable adults, either on a paid or voluntary basis, will be required to join a register of suitability, operated by the Home Office (News, 28 October 2009). From November 2010, it will be compulsory for anyone who is a new worker or moving jobs to join it.
Decisions about whether workers should be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults will be made by the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
Antoinette Southern, who runs Antoinette's nanny agency in Cornwall, said, 'A quick and easy solution would be to include all types of carers, including nannies and childminders, regardless of whether they are found, supplied or organised by an agency or a family directly.'
But a spokesperson for the DCSF said, 'It is not for the Govrnment to intervene in private family arrangements. When an organisation employs and then supplies, or just introduces, a nanny to a family, the VBS will require that organisation to check that the nanny is ISA-registered. Parents will be able to choose an ISA-registered nanny if they wish, and will be able to check that individual's ISA registration.'
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