Government plans to reduce the scale of proposals for a vetting scheme to protect children were met with scepticism from Liberal Democrat MP David Laws, who said they may still be too “bureaucratic”.

He claimed that the rules would still apply to police officers, which he said would be a “counterproductive” measure.

Speaking on this morning’s Today programme on Radio 4, David Laws, Liberal Democrat spokesman for children, schools and families , said

“The government or Sir Roger Singleton seems to be suggesting that people will only have to go through this vetting procedure if they come into contact with children on a weekly basis rather than a monthly basis.

“But if for example somebody is going into school and is in a classroom setting on a weekly basis with the classroom teacher then it seems to most people that actually they’re not posing a serious risk to children.”

He added: “What worries many people I think is that lots of these things are being done on the basis of quite bureaucratic rules … rather than to a real assessment of risk.”