News that a convicted sex offender is running a Gloucestershire residential adventure centre for children has once again raised questions over whether checks carried out on adults who work with children are stringent enough (CYP Now, 16-22 January).

These concerns were heightened by the recent arrest of Jamie Rennie, chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, who is awaiting trial over allegations of possessing indecent images of children.

Anyone working with children and young people has to have a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check every time they apply for a new job. However a CRB check only "proves you have not been caught - it does not mean you are not abusing," warns Marilyn Hawes, who runs the campaign consultancy Enough Abuse.

"They are only part of the safeguarding process," she says. "Through better education of what to spot we can all contribute to a safer society without turning up the heat on more legislation and checks."

Fear of touching

The growing climate of fear around the safeguarding of children does have serious ramifications, according to Hawes. She believes it can deter people - particularly men - from working with children. "Many young men, who I believe would have considered teaching, now don't," she says.

This autumn, a new vetting and barring scheme will replace the current Protection of Children Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults schemes.

Zoe Hilton, policy adviser for the NSPCC, hopes the new scheme will improve vetting standards. However, she would also like to see organisations across all sectors ensuring their staff have good child protection awareness and training. "We would like to see community and voluntary groups getting more support to enable them to do this," she says.

A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers says: "We are happy with the protection that the CRB checks provide, as long as there is proper training for school staff on the safeguarding of children. But we are not so happy with allegations being kept on record even if they are found to be untrue."

Meanwhile, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has found the growing legislation and checks have made some nursery workers too afraid to cuddle children in case they are accused of inappropriately touching them.

This has led the organisation, in partnership with disability charity Scope, to create a resource called Managing Carer/Child Physical Contact. The paper provides answers to key concerns around areas such as cuddling, intimate care routines and touch policies (CYP Now 16-22 January).

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, says: "While child protection has to be at the heart of everything, it is important nurseries do not fear touching and cuddling children. With regular CRB checks, good human resources procedures for areas such as references and a strong 'whistle-blowing' policy, with staff being fully aware of how to voice their concerns, the balance can be achieved."

She warns: "It is important we do not allow a culture to develop where child carers are frightened to touch children, as physical contact is a vital part of ensuring children are cared for in a healthy and warm environment."

John Freeman, director of children's services at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, believes current safeguards are adequate. However, he adds: "While we need to check people before hiring them and take prompt action against any employees who offend, when people are detected for the first time their record is clean. So we must not allow a false sense of security to be engendered through CRB checks but also apply a rigorous regime of safe practice on safeguarding."

Better co-operation

Chris Brewster, safeguarding officer for the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, also believes there is enough legislation in place. "But we need better understanding and co-operation between statutory authorities and the voluntary sector so that everyone is kept informed," he says.

He is surprised and concerned that it took Gloucestershire safeguarding children board six months to notify all the users of Dyke House adventure centre that the man running it was a convicted sex offender.

Victor Steynor, who owns the residential centre near Ledbury, was convicted last July of a sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in 1983. He was given a three-year community rehabilitation order and put on the sex offenders register.

"The authorities did not inform us - we were told about it by an anonymous caller," says Brewster. "Six months later is not good enough. We are advising people to carry out a total risk assessment, just as they would with any facility, and we are sign-posting people to the information so that they can make their own decisions."

However, this instance is far from typical. "We have to be careful in this case as it is unusual," Brewster explains. "Steynor owns the business and runs it himself so a lot of legislation will not apply. He rents out the premises but doesn't provide activities so there is a limit to the amount of legislation he has to comply with."

KEY POINTS

- Headteachers and local authorities must carry out CRB and List 99 checks and verify references

- A standard CRB check involves a check on local police records

- An enhanced CRB check is for posts involving a greater degree of contact

- The new vetting and barring scheme will be phased in from autumn this year.