The Vetting and Barring scheme, under which staff and volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults would have to register to be checked by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, has been halted, the Home Office has announced.

The scheme, which was due to come into force on 26th July 2010, will be remodelled.

The government is now contacting 66,000 organisations, including charities, voluntary groups and education authorities, to tell them that the planned registration is being cancelled.

Eligibility for CRB checks is unaffected for the moment, and the planned introduction of new CRB application forms is still scheduled for 26th July.

For a summary of the latest situation and information on checks that are still in place, see Sandy Adirondack’s legal update for the voluntary sector.