Eight years after the paedophile Roy Whiting murdered Sarah Payne, parents and carers are finally to be allowed to ask police to check the background of someone with unrestricted access to their children. What started as a campaign for the public to be informed about child sex abusers living in their neighbourhoods has resulted in a much more limited form of disclosure, with the police remaining in control of when details of someone’s past will be released.

The pilot schemes starting today reflect a long battle by the police, children’s charities and probation service to prevent the introduction in England and Wales of a system similar to Megan’s Law in the US, under which information about paedophiles can be shared with local communities.

British authorities recoiled from the idea, their opposition bolstered by a series of incidents in which sex offenders were driven from their homes after street protests. It is fear of more such incidents, and the danger that paedophiles already being monitored will disappear, that is behind the lukewarm support for the latest initiative.

Providing a formal mechanism for parents to check on individuals can offer some reassurance. Once, someone embarking on a new relationship would probably have known them and even their family, perhaps for years. Now that is often not the case, leaving women with children particularly vulnerable to predatory paedophiles who target them and their families. There should be nothing wrong in allowing people in that position the opportunity to ask the police to check out a new partner.

Where things could go awry is in ensuring that the information is treated in confidence. When the welfare of children is at stake, it is asking a lot of a parent or carer not to let others know about a person’s background. If the information does seep out, there is a real risk of mob justice.

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