Philip Pullman and Quentin Blake abandon school visits over plans for paedophile checks



Leading children's authors announced a boycott of school visits yesterday in protest at 'sinister' Government checks to ensure that they are not paedophiles.

Philip Pullman, writer of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and three former Children's Laureates claim the Vetting and Barring Scheme database will encourage youngsters to view everyone as potential rapists or murderers.

The 11million adults working with children will be charged £64 to sign up to the register starting in October.

Author Philip Pullman, left, and Children's Laureate Quentin Blake have threatened to stop visiting schools in protest over the vetting scheme



Unions warned the fee could stop some applying for low-paid public service jobs such as teaching assistants, nursery nurses and care workers.

Even MPs will have to submit themselves to the criminal record checks before they can visit schools.

The scheme is administered by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, set up after the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by school caretaker Ian Huntley in 2002.

Mr Pullman told the Radio 4 Today programme: 'Why should I have to pay £64 to a government agency to give me a little certificate to say that I am not a paedophile?

'It's actually rather dispiriting and sinister. It's the assumption that anyone who comes into contact with children for any reason whatsoever is up to no good and likely to be a rapist or a murderer and has to be checked out in advance to show that they're not.

'It will encourage children to believe that no adult will ever approach them other than to prey on them or do them harm.'

He was supported by former Children's Laureates Quentin Blake, Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine. Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider spy series, also said the £64 registration fee had 'a nasty feeling of stealth tax about it'.

Pullman's His Dark Materials and Blake's illustrations for Roald Dahl's novels including The BFG have made them household names



Public service union Unison said it agreed with the principle of the database but warned the fee will have a disproportionate impact on low-paid workers.

It pointed out that £64 was almost two days' work for an employer on the minimum wage of £5.73.

Volunteers who work with children will also be required to sign up to the register, although the £64 fee will be waived.



Julian Brazier, Tory MP for Canterbury, warned the vetting system had got 'out of control.'



'It is absurd that they are vetting the same people again and again in different roles. We do need vetting, but it needs to be sensible,' he said.

Anyone working in a position that involves contact with children will have to be vetted under the scheme.







If passed, their name will remain on a register allowing them to work with juveniles. Those who fail will go on a separate register.

It extends the current Criminal Records Bureau checks that apply to school staff, but not to visitors who have only a small amount of contact with pupils

Last month Richard Thomas, who is stepping down as Britain's first Information Commissioner, said he had serious concerns about the system. He warned that as well as criminal convictions it would contain 'allegations, some rumour, some speculation'.

Terry Deary, the writer of the popular Horrible Histories children's books, accused the authors leading the boycott of being 'pompous'.

'They should stick to the law like everybody else,' he said.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The UK already has one of the most advanced systems in the world for carrying out checks on all those who work in positions of trust with children and vulnerable adults.

'From October this year the new Vetting and Barring Scheme will ensure these regulations are even more rigorous.'