Yet Another Database: UK to Record Who Wants to Work with Kids

Fromnext year, all those who wish to work, either paid or unpaid, withchildren or vulnerable adults will need to be vetted. Those who failthe vetting will be barred from obtaining such work. Individuals whoseek to work in these areas, knowing that they have been barred, willbe committing a criminal offence. Registration will cost £64 perperson, although this will be waived for those only wishing to work inan unpaid voluntary capacity. This initiative will be supported by acentral database, holding the details of 11.3 million people, orslightly more than a quarter of the adult population. This is anincrease of nearly 3 million over initial Home Office estimates, makingit the most extensive database of its kind in the world. The schemelaunch has been put back to next year as a result of ‘concerns aboutdata security’ and extra work needed to ensure its database was ‘robust’.

A rather different issue is just who will be barred from employment. The database will monitor those who are “judged to be a risk”. However “expert” the basis for this judgment, there is the suspicion that this may introduce either a subjective element – or be based on a statistical technique not unlike credit scoring.

It goes well beyond targeting those guilty of child abuse. Minor incidents, such as forgetting to renew a fishing license can see an individual’s livelihood called into question when recorded by the Criminal Records Bureau.

More ominously, the new database is likely to include List 99 data, which takes the criteria for barring into the broader areas of misconduct. In time, there is a fear that the database could also carry “soft data”. This would include things such as dropped charges and allegations in respect of conduct, which some organisations argued should be more widely shared following the Soham murders. Critics warn that this could result in individuals being barred from jobs just for being slightly ‘weird’.

Mick Brooks, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers argued that the proposals were overbearing: “Children’s welfare is important. But we have serious concerns over the new system. It adds bureaucracy. It adds delay. And there is the serious issue that information is not always accurate, with the result that individuals can wrongly lose jobs or have their lives destroyed.”