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Some of Britain's top children's authors are to stop visiting schools in protest at a "preposterous" government plan to make them register on a database in case they pose a risk to children.
Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake have all criticised the plan to put their names on the database meant to protect children from paedophiles.
The Vetting and Barring Scheme is managed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, set up after the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley, a school caretaker, in 2002.
The database, due to come online on 12 October, will list adults approved to work with children and those who are barred.
It will be a legal requirement for employees and volunteers in schools to register from November next year. Those in paid employment will have to pay a £64 registration fee. Volunteers will not have to pay.
Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, described the Home Office policy as "corrosive and poisonous to every kind of healthy social interaction". He told the Independent: "I've been going into schools as an author for 20 years, and on no occasion have I ever been alone with a child. The idea that I have become more of a threat and I need to be vetted is both ludicrous and insulting."
Former Children's Laureate Anne Fine said the scheme would drive a wedge between children and adults. She said: "When it [the VBS] becomes essential, I shall continue to work only in foreign schools, where sanity prevails."
Morpurgo, also a former Children's Laureate, added: "Writers don't go to schools for the money, they do it because they want to bring their stories to children and make readers of them. The notion that I should somehow have got myself passed in order to do this is absurd."
Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider children's spy novels, said: "A child who admires a writer has a great belief in that writer as a good human being," he said. "If you say the guy who's writing this book could be a sick pervert and we've got to protect you from him, you're not exactly sending out the most positive message."
A spokesman from the Home Office said the VBS scheme would make Britain's regulations "even more rigorous".
Reader views (15)
Good on the authors. The sooner more people refuse to have anything to do with CRB checks the better.
British law has always been innocent UNLESS proven guilty, unlike European law which is guilty until proven innocent. Personally, I refuse to be a Euro-drone.
- James Blunt, Manchester
Most of the commenters here, like the authors, have missed the point.
This agency serves 2 key purposes: Firstly to prevent those with cautions and convictions relating to child harm or abuse from working with or being allowed acces to children and; secondly, to moderate and make decisions in the grey areas where someone may have a conviction (non-child abuse related) but still wishes to work with children - this particularly includes those with historical convictions (i.e. those committed 20 years ago or when a teenager)such as robbery and lesser crimes such as cannabis possession etc..
Currently it is down to individual schools, youth and social service departments to make these decisions, creating significant inconsistency and putting children at further risk. No one is suggesting that these idiot authors are paedophiles.
- Liberal And Proud, London, UK
MPs and ministers often visit schools to promote some new initiative or other, will they be required to register too?
- Roy, England
The fascist thought police have knocked another nail into the coffin of education and the innocence of children.
- Kerry, Purley
If anything and everything was legitimised and justified "just in case" something might happen to ANY vulnerable section of society, then said society would grind to a halt under the knock-on effects of those measures - oh wait, that's already happening, isn't it.
Having to demonstrate your willingness to be proactively scrutinised "just in case" sounds pretty much like having to prove your innocence in a court of law.
Here's a novel idea - why can't the people responsible for these children and other vulnerable groups be expected to be vigilant in their supervision and leave it at that? It's called a balanced apoproach.
- Rogan, Irving
If they've got nothing to hide......why worry about it...
- Chris, London, UK
Kim Lovell, you have completely missed the point.
A database of those regularly attending schools, as volunteers or professionals, will protect nobody, as has been proven time and again.
The only useful tool is one which identifies those proven to pose a risk, and it is the job of Police to administer this, not some unelected, unnacountable qango.
The only reason for this latest initiative is to further the collection of data for the government's ID database.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
Clearly, this action MUST also apply outside of school premisis.
Lets start with all Ice cream sellers. they work with children, Park Keepers, all social services people, the police, fire and ambluance not to mention all sweet and toy shop counter assistants. They will have as much contact as these writers.
Now if all aunts, uncles nd other childless relatives and famly-less friends are also regesterd that would probably cover a good 25% of the population and and keep those 'elf and safety' busybody's in bunused and final saly pensioned employment for another ten years.
Disgusted of suburbia !
- June, London
I have 8 children of my own its ridiculous and insulting that I would have to register on some sinister government database just to help out at the school.
Good on these authors for making a stand! What of earth do these nu labour control freaks think will happen in schools?
Vote them out before they do more harm to children and to our society.
- Catherine Williams, Ross-on-Wye
I'm sorry but you can't pick and choose who the law applies to. No-one is suggesting that these authors would abuse children. However it applies to all those entering schools on a regular basis. Do we exempt all authors because we all know authors don't abuse children. Or only the famous ones. Who do we chose who is famous or not. It will only take one child to be abused because the rules were relaxed for everyone to start shouting. Can Pullman and co really not afford £65 for peace on, mind, theirs included, if an abuser was ro slip through because of exemptions how would they feel.
- Kim Lovell, Newham, London
Frank, well said! The only people running a database of those who pose a threat to children should be the Police. Public safety is their remit.
It is nothing short of pernicious to expect everyone to register on this qango-controlled database.
It is just another Trojan horse for the databsaing and labelling of the entire population (except the rich, famous, politicians and illegal immigrants).
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
My former school celebrated a major anniversary but only current pupils, their parents and staff attended. Someone had decided that former pupils would need to be CRB checked and this would be to much effort/cost/WHY. The assumption was, of course, made that all the parents pose no risk!
- Man U Fan, London
What about a database of dodgy MP's and chinless, spineless, two-faced Home Office officials?
POLICE STATE UK GONE BONKERS.
- Reuben Camara, Republic of Morecambe, UK
".. only in foreign schools, where sanity prevails."
Widen that thought, only in foreign countries does sanity prevail.
At no point in the history of any civilised western country, have a government turned the instruments of society into a big brother, communist police state with such vigour as this profoundly corrupt Labour government.
Freedom, self determination and self responsibility are concepts that have no place in Nu Labour's vocabulary.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
This is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous.
- Jc, London
