Reports • Vetting

Vetting Under-18s: An education in mistrust

The Case Against Vetting logo NEW: A Manifesto Club briefing finds that 13 year olds are being regularly vetted to help with younger children. See the briefing, Vetting Children

A report by the Manifesto Club shows how Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are undermining teenage volunteers. Vetting Under-18s: An education in mistrust reveals that over seven hundred and thirty thousand (730,164) under 18-year olds have been CRB checked since 2002 – for activities such as helping younger kids with reading, or offering coaching support.

One young person whose mother works as a childminder and was vetted just before he turned 16, said: ‘It was baffling. Why when we were 15 was it ok to be in the house, but as soon as we turned 16, it was not? There was a shift from trust to no trust.’