Last week education secretary Ruth Kelly announced plans to bring in new regulations in the next few weeks to ensure that anyone working with children who has been cautioned or convicted for a sex offence will automatically be placed on List 99 and barred from working in schools or with children.
However, because services for children over the age of eight are not regulated by Ofsted, their staff are not subject to Criminal Records Bureau checks.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children said, 'It is likely that some of those working with older children may not be police-checked. In a less formal out-of-school environment, this will raise concerns for many parents. This is a particularly important issue at the moment, as plans for extended activities around schools are rolled out across the country.'
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