Scots delay new staff check rules

The Scottish executive has backed down over the implementation of
new child protection legislation that voluntary groups fear could
see workers desert them.

The delay, of three months, to the implementation of the Protection
of Children Scotland Act 2003 was made because the voluntary sector
felt it had not been given enough time to prepare.

The decision, announced by deputy education minister Euan Jones
last month, means that new legal requirements for employers to
check whether volunteers working with children and young people are
suitable will now come in on 11 April rather than 10 January as
initially planned. However, the List of Adults Unsuitable to Work
with Children, for new volunteers to be checked against, will still
start operating from 10 January.