What ever next?

[Barry]

Saw this on the 6 o'clock news the morning.


Now as a parent, I would have never thought about anything like this.

[ajones]

It's a result of our governments desire to legislate against everything.

"Some children are being harmed!"
"Let's protect them by law"
"Oh, we may have been too general...."
"Let's squeeze more legislation into the gaps!"

I heard you need a Criminal records check to drive someone elses kids to school these days.... Completely nuts.

[Funkstar]

It's a result of our governments desire to legislate against everything.

To a certain extent I disagree with that. I think a lot of the problem stems from too many people trying to justify their own jobs by pursuing cases like the one in the article. Combine this with the fear of a compensation culture and that is where a lot of this nonsense comes from.

Ester Ranson and someone else were on BBC Breakfast speaking about the supposed compensation culture we have. Apparently we don't, but with so many adverts for no-win no-fee solicitors is creating a fear that you can get sued for the slightest little thing. Combine that with the media's insatiable need for bad, shocking or any other news that can cause shock and it is no surprise people think the country has politically correct madness.

Remember the story about the family that were being sued because a kid hurt themselves on a bouncy castle? Did it ever go to court? were the family actually sued?

No idea, that bit of it will never be reported in the media, just the initial case, which causes fear and uncertainty in everyone that reads it.

[0iD]

I can sort-of see the point, but it is indeed Bureaucracy gone mad and no doubt it will become the norm.

At the end of the day, going through the CRB check, which I've had to do recently for work at special needs schools, it's not too much drama really.

As a parent I like the safety net it can give you, but of course it is fallible, and equally as a parent I fell it's utterly unnecessary when taken to this degree.

[format]

It's a result of our governments desire to legislate against everything.

And that, in turn is the result of public backlash anytime a child is violated or hurt by anyone.

[Stringent]

What annoys me is there is no one CRB check which covers everything. You have to get CRB for all different childrens works. e.g one for Scouts, one for schools, one for... Its silly.

[kalniel]

What annoys me is there is no one CRB check which covers everything. You have to get CRB for all different childrens works. e.g one for Scouts, one for schools, one for... Its silly.

You do? I know there are quickie ones like list99 that you can get for restricted uses, but I thought the full CRB was the full CRB.

[Lucio]

You do? I know there are quickie ones like list99 that you can get for restricted uses, but I thought the full CRB was the full CRB.

Except the rules say you have to apply for one each and every time it's needed, you can't get a certificate to take around to the different organisations and say "I'm fine".


All in all this is exactly the issue with the current government, they've tried to legislate for everything, something like 1000 new laws have been passed since they came to power. What's worse is dismantling even half of what they've put together would take years, if not decades, and still wouldn't help all the money that's been wasted forming usless beaucratic appendages like the CRB. It's no wonder the government is so heavily in debt, they've pissed away our money on things that quite frankly, weren't needed but the press made a fuss of.

[kalniel]

Except the rules say you have to apply for one each and every time it's needed, you can't get a certificate to take around to the different organisations and say "I'm fine".

I see, that's quite annoying.

[this_is_gav]

That must have changed. I needed one when helping with a youth club around 1998, but when I started at my current school in 2000 it was still valid, and I've never needed to update it.

Whether it would be valid if I moved on again, or into a different area, I've no idea.

[Dingo]

FFS, whatever will this inept Government come up with next.........another reason to tax people to the hilt whilst insisting it's all for the common good?............Marxism by the back door, and just like Russia, the great and the good escape the penalties of their own laws......enough is enough methinks!!

[format]

the great and the good escape the penalties of their own laws......enough is enough methinks!!

I think you'll find that that applies to any country, ever.

[Saracen]

....

I heard you need a Criminal records check to drive someone elses kids to school these days.... Completely nuts.

Erm, no, not as I understand it. Or at least, not necessarily. If you're driving, for example, your neighbour's kids with a direct understanding with the parents, then no.

If, however, you're tasked by a third party, such as a school, or scout group, or club, and you're doing it on more than an occasional basis, then yes.

This is, of course, just my understanding not a factual statement of law. But requiring parent's to get their neighbour CRB checked before letting them give their kids a lift to school would not only be fatuous and ridiculous, but completely unworkable.

Having said that, "fatuous and ridiculous" is exactly how I would describe Ofsted's stance over these two female police officers, so I suppose we should never assume that just because it's "fatuous and ridiculous", a government department will let that stand in their way.

After the Soham murders, Baby P etc, it's small wonder that bureaucrats are nervous and perhaps being over-vigilant rather than complacent. In many cases, it's also perhaps no bad thing if it stops another Baby P, and if they don't take things seriously, sooner or later, we'll get another baby P.

I don't normally agree with anything much Roy Hattersley says, but he commented on this this yesterday (Newsnight I think, might have been Daily Politics) and he characterised it as utterly ridiculous and lacking in any application of common sense, and completely indefensible. And I agree. He also said that if they don't enforce rules, then sooner or later something will go wrong in a situation like this and then we'll all be screaming at Ofsted for having rules and not enforcing them.

So while the whole business is daft, I don't blame the Ofsted bureaucrats that operate the rules for this, I blame those that wrote the rules and the guidance to explain them.