Paul Cavadino, Chief Executive of Nacro, said:
"Nacro, the crime reduction charity, welcomes the publication of the Bichard Inquiry report and hopes the recommendations are implemented quickly to ensure there is no repeat of the Soham tragedy.
"There are a minority of offenders who pose a risk to children and the authorities have a duty to protect them. However, the majority of ex-offenders, many of whom work in the health, education and social care fields, are valuable members of the workforce and have not committed offences which make them a risk to children. Since the introduction of the new criminal record checks system in 2002, Nacro has become concerned that many of these people are being refused employment, suspended or dismissed on the basis of very old and wholly irrelevant convictions. This concern is reinforced by the thousands of calls we take on our helpline every week.
"Nacro has worked with employers to produce guidance on recruiting ex offenders. This guidance is designed to ensure that employers use criminal record information to exclude ex offenders from jobs in which they would be a risk to children, while ensuring that ex-offenders who would pose no risk do not suffer discrimination when applying for jobs.
"We have got to learn to distinguish between the vast majority of ex-offenders who pose no risk whatsover and the Ian Huntley's of this world. The inquiry report does not make this distinction and there is a real threat of discrimination against ex-offenders who would not dream of harming children."
