Diana Johnson
Main Page: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)Sir Jimmy Savile (BBC Inquiry)
Diana Johnson Excerpts(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
Last year, the coalition scaled back criminal checks on people who have access to children, and the Home Secretary has said that organisations should instead use a “common-sense” approach when vetting individuals. After these dreadful allegations at the BBC and other organisations, does the Minister think that the “common-sense” approach will keep our children safe?
Maria Miller
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I know that she has looked at this matter in some detail, as I, too, have done. I can reassure her that the BBC’s own child protection policy goes beyond that which is required, and it is expected that where people work with children and young people the role will be subject to a satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau check or indeed a PVG—Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme—check. She is right always to be questioning whether we do have the right checks in place, but I say to her that the individual we are talking about today had no criminal convictions. So this is not just about looking at convictions; it is also about the culture of vigilance that I talked about when responding to the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman).