§ Margaret MoranTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make Criminal Records Bureau checks mandatory for moderators of children's internet sites. [86423]
§ Hilary BennThere is no provision in Part 5 of the Police Act 1997, which established the Criminal Records Bureau, by which checks can be made mandatory.
We introduced in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order 2002 (2002 No. 441), an exception for "Any employment which is concerned with the monitoring, for the purposes of child protection, of communications by means of the internet". This makes checks on moderators of chat rooms, and other forms of internet communication, used by children, possible. We are encouraging this in good practice models and guidance for the internet industry, which will be published by the task force on child protection on the internet early in the new year and are confident that operators in this country will take advantage of this possibility.