A MAJOR overhaul of child protection laws will see casual workers and those with less frequent access to children in East Lancashire no longer required to fill in a Criminal Records Bureau form.

Ministers say it will lift an atmosphere of mistrust around parents who simply want to help out with sports clubs, for example, with more ‘proportionate’ use of a streamlined CRB and Independent Safeguarding Authority body.

But its detractors argue it is a backwards step and will allow calculated offenders more opportunities.

The Lancashire Telegraph understands police in Lancashire believe CRB checks have potentially saved thousands of children being abused in some way by stopping applications from people with a criminal past.

John O’Reilly, chairman of the Lancashire Police Federation, said: “Some members have expressed concerns about the dilution of the CRB checks and that the current systems in place have come out of best practice.

“We know that the more checks we have on people, the more safeguards can offer children.

“Some people might thing it’s a bit ‘Big Brother’, but our officers have vast experience about how people who want to get access to children and can.

“I would say it is all about money these days. If the government can talk about cutting police numbers and it not affecting the frontline, then this is just another case of it costs too much so do more for less.

"If that results in more work for the police through more victims then so be it.”

Teachers will continue to be vetted - but those who do occasional, supervised volunteer work will not.

Simon Jones, national executive member of the National Union of Teachers and Blackburn with Darwen representative, said: “CRB checks have been a bureaucratic burden and they are only as good on the day they are done so I don’t think they work.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council children’s services head Maureen Bateson said: “CRB checks became particularly pertinent after the Soham murders and the fact serious allegations made against Ian Huntley, a school caretaker, had been missed.

“This announcement is a backwards step. We can never take any chances with child protection.

“There has been a lot of misinformation around CRB checks.

"However, the safeguarding of children has to remain the priority.”

Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie backed the bill saying it will make it easier for grandparents, parents and neighbours to play an active role in a child’s life.