Millions of adults who work with children will have to register with child protection authorities, under an expanded safeguarding scheme due next year.
The Government estimates that 11.3 million people - one in four of all English adults - will be included on the new database, with registration costing £64 per person. The fee will be waived in the case of voluntary workers.
Inclusion on the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) database will be mandatory for anyone who works with children, whether in a paid or voluntary capacity.
Organisations providing work experience placements for students will not be compelled to register their workers.
From October 2009 employers, voluntary organisations and charities will be forbidden from recruiting anyone who is not ISA registered. People currently working with children will have until 2010 to complete the registration process, irrespective of whether they have been previously vetted.
It will become an offence for anyone barred from working with children to apply for such a job - and there will be penalties for employers who fail to check on the registration of applicants.
Initially the scheme will apply to workers based in England, but it is expected that it will be extended to Scotland and Wales.
The Government estimates that 11.3 million people - one in four of all English adults - will be included on the new database, with registration costing £64 per person. The fee will be waived in the case of voluntary workers.
Inclusion on the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) database will be mandatory for anyone who works with children, whether in a paid or voluntary capacity.
Organisations providing work experience placements for students will not be compelled to register their workers.
From October 2009 employers, voluntary organisations and charities will be forbidden from recruiting anyone who is not ISA registered. People currently working with children will have until 2010 to complete the registration process, irrespective of whether they have been previously vetted.
It will become an offence for anyone barred from working with children to apply for such a job - and there will be penalties for employers who fail to check on the registration of applicants.
Initially the scheme will apply to workers based in England, but it is expected that it will be extended to Scotland and Wales.
