The home secretary has announced sweeping changes to the way the police performs child protection procedures.

Publishing the Bichard report into lapses which led to the Soham murders, David Blunkett told MPs that lessons would be learned.

Government Response: Home Office

David Blunkett, home secretary, said: "Last December following Ian Huntley's conviction, I asked Sir Michael Bichard to conduct an inquiry.

"His report uncovers serious failures in recording and managing information. These failures include local systems for recording, retaining and accessing data.

"The recommendations in the report apply to a range of public services and government departments. The government accepts Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately.

"It is our task to ensure clear national standards as well as providing strong leadership, but other national bodies and local agencies also have a key role in strengthening the system.

"I am grateful to Sir Michael for the speed and thoroughness of his inquiry. We accept his critique. In doing so we must not forget, as he states, that 'Huntley alone was responsible for these most awful murders'.

"None of the actions or failures of any of the witnesses or the institutions they represented led to the deaths of the girls'."

Party Response: Conservative

David Davis MP , shadow home secretary, said: "I welcome this report. It is not just Humberside and Cambridgeshire who should read this report today.

"Every police force and social service should read and learn lessons of this report. If we fail, it will be a catastrophe measured in human tragedies.

Party Response: Liberal Democrats

Mark Oaten MP, said: "This damning report highlights the fact that while the rest of us are in the age of the internet, the police are stuck in the age of the paperclip. 

"We cannot have a situation in which 43 different police forces approach the same problem in 43 different ways.

"The home secretary has some explaining to do over why he abandoned plans for a national police intelligence database in 2000.

"He must also learn from the Scottish forces about how to run a modern police service equipped with the latest technology. 

"The experience of criminal records checks has been a bureaucratic nightmare for thousands of people who work professionally with children or give their time as volunteers.

"Sir Michael Bichard is absolutely right to call for a streamlined system, but the public will rightly question whether the Criminal Records Bureau will be the weakest link in the proposed system."

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, NUT general secretary, said: "From the start, the NUT’s aim has been to ensure that children are fully protected whilst at the same time ensuring there are adequate safeguards for teachers from false allegations.