http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... arred.htmlThousands reported to vetting agency but only 4% barredBy Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor
7:00AM BST 08 May 2012
Thousands of people are being reported for investigation by the Government’s vetting agency but only a handful are banned from working with children as a result.
Campaigners believe that in many cases, unfounded or even malicious allegations are being made against innocent people, potentially blighting their careers. In one case a vicar was reported to the vetting agency by his diocese just for questioning the child protection regime.
And while the Coalition has scaled back Labour's plans to vet one in four adults, with its reforms passing into law last week, it has not altered the system by which allegations can be made.
Josie Appleton, director of Manifesto Club, a libertarian group that has led opposition to the expansion of vetting, said: “Organisations were required by law to report any suspicions to the ISA, which was a recipe for encouraging hearsay and malicious accusation.
“Some individuals were apparently reported for nothing more than eccentricity and a personality conflict with their organisation. The fact that only 500 out of 13,000 were barred indicates that the ISA is using its discretion - but it can take months for a person to be cleared, by which stage the damage is done.”
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