The Bichard report or Bichard inquiry is a public inquiry into child protection, which was produced after the subsequent media attention around the
Soham murders, where two young girls were murdered in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
by the local college caretaker
Ian Huntley.
The inquiry was launched on 18 December 2003, the day after an
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
jury found Huntley guilty of murdering the two girls. After the verdict was delivered, it was revealed that Huntley had been investigated by police for crimes including burglary, indecent assault and rape during the 1990s, but had still been able to get a job as a school caretaker when he was appointed to
Soham Village College
Soham Village College is a secondary school with academy status located in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England. It has around 1,400 pupils, aged 11 to 16. Although its wide catchment area does not include Ely, some pupils from there and its neighbo ...
in November 2001. The burglary charge had been ordered to lie on file, but police vetting procedures had failed to reveal this.
[{{cite web , url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/dec/18/children.soham , title=Blunder after blunder , work=The Guardian , date=18 December 2003 , accessdate=2019-06-03 ]
Michael Bichard
Michael George Bichard, Baron Bichard (born 31 January 1947) is a former public servant in the United Kingdom, first in local and then as a civil servant in central government. He was director of the Institute for Government, currently serves a ...
was selected to chair the inquiry.
He said there should be a system where anyone working with children should be vetted before working with them. This report was published in 2004. This report was in connection to how someone like
Ian Huntley, who was convicted of the Soham murders in 2003, was able to work in a school, and how this could be avoided in the future.
The key reconsiderations were:
* A registration scheme for all wishing to work with children or vulnerable people
* An introduction of a national police intelligence system for England and Wales
* A clear code of practice for all police forces for record keeping and sharing data
* Training for head teachers and governors on how to interview, ensuring that people are employed according to safeguarding rules
* A guidance for