Preventing Unsuitable Individuals from Working with Children: Vetting and Barring Policy and Devolution

Arrangements for protecting children in organisations, such as using criminal records, in staff recruitment (vetting), and barring certain individuals from certain posts, have undergone significant expansion in the United Kingdom since the turn of the millennium. This has happened concurrently with the devolving of political powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The purpose of this article is to explore aspects of the possibilities of, and limits to, devolution by refracting it through the lens of vetting and barring policy in England and Scotland from 1997 to 2010. The conclusion is that devolution has enabled differences to emerge within aspects of these policies between Scotland and England, but has had negligible impact on the overall policy agenda of risk management and preventive governance.