Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [HL]

A provision of the kind envisaged by the noble Baroness would be unusual, although, I am told, not absolutely unprecedented. It is so highly unusual that we are not minded to think that this would be an appropriate course to pursue—not least because of the assurances that we have given about the extensive consultation that we intend to conduct before we publish the order. I have already circulated an information note on automatic barring containing an illustrative list of offences that would lead to an automatic bar with and without representations. We are already consulting on that list, and will continue to do so, with recognised experts in the field of child protection, alongside their equally qualified colleagues from the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and other key stakeholders. With their help, we intend the list to be appropriately framed after full consultation before it goes to Parliament. We should also remember that the list is not without precedent, given the current arrangements for List 99. The prescribed offences will therefore hardly be unfamiliar to your Lordships when the order is produced. Therefore, although I in no way minimise the gravity of the impact of the list, we do not believe that, given the circumstances of the existing law and of the consultation that will be conducted, it is of a kind to justify this highly unusual course of an order that would be amendable.