Government plans to change the system of vetting people who work with children in England and Wales contain a "disturbing gap", the NSPCC has said.
The Home Office announced earlier this month that checks would be required only for people working "closely and regularly" with young people.
The NSPCC said it was concerned that some volunteers in schools and children's homes would be exempt. It said that, under the terms of the bill, a teacher who has been barred but not prosecuted for inappropriate behaviour could become an unpaid, supervised, voluntary worker in a school without any checks revealing the previous behaviour which had led to them being barred.
It added that there would be a loophole in the protection of vulnerable 16- and 17-year-olds because people who worked with them in sports clubs and faith groups would not be vetted under the new rules.
But it welcomed the coalition's "more proportionate" approach overall.
