Firms face

Under new controls companies could face fines of up to £5,000 if they hire staff who have not been properly vetted.

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill includes plans to introduce a centralised vetting system for people working with children and vulnerable adults.

Employers - including those who operate Internet chat rooms - will face fines of up to £5,000 and a maximum prison sentence of five years in the most serious cases, if they fail to properly vet employees.

The same penalties would also apply to employees.

The new vetting system will bring all the relevant information together in one place for the first time, replacing the current various check-lists, which include List 99 - a list of people banned from working in schools and the Protection of Children Act lists, which ban people from working in the health service.

Ministers will also no longer be responsible for making decisions to ban people from working with children. This will become the responsibility of a new independent body.

Under the new legislation, anyone who is cautioned for sex offences would receive an automatic ban, not just those who have been convicted.

The Bill will also enable employers to check a prospective employee's status via secure online checks as well as make it possible for domestic employers to check the status of people such as private tutors, nannies and care workers.

The announcement of the Bill follows the row over sex offenders being discovered working in UK schools, which led to widespread criticism of Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.

Mary Marsh, director of the children's charity NSPCC, welcomed the Bill but said concerns remained.

"Employers must do more than just tick the 'vetting box', as many abusers are not known to the criminal justice system.

"The NSPCC remains concerned about the timeframe for change. Much of the Bill will not be implemented until at least 2008."

She added that the fees charged for checks could be prohibitive for small voluntary and community organisations and said there were concerns about overseas workers, for whom record checks are often unavailable.