Policy in practice: Wise up on ... Criminal checks
Monday, November 12, 2007
Criminal Records Bureau checks are a legal requirement for anyone who is going to work regularly with children and young people. Andy Hillier looks at what the process involves, how much it costs and what to do if someone has a criminal record.
Pretty much everyone who wants to work face-to-face with young people is legally required to undergo a criminal records check. Under guidance, any person whose normal duties involve regular contact with young people under 18 will need government approval before they can start working.
This includes full-time and part-time staff as well as regular volunteers and those who provide services to young people. Back-office support workers in youth organisations, such as administrators, are usually exempt, as long as they do not regularly come into contact with young people in their daily roles.
An exemption exists for occasional volunteers too. For example, if a parent offers to help out on a one-off basis for a day trip they wouldn't be required to undergo a check first. But the organisation would have to ensure that they are not left unsupervised with the young people at any time. Most youth projects, however, prefer to err on the side of caution and check everyone's backgrounds before they come into contact with young people.
How the process works
The current legislation does not allow individuals or the self-employed to apply for a criminal check on themselves. Only registered organisations that have signed up to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Code of Practice can apply for checks to be carried out.
Applying for registered status costs about £300 and takes time, so the CRB has created a system where smaller organisations can ask a registered umbrella body to countersign applications on their behalf to keep costs down. Many large voluntary groups now offer this service, although they have to be satisfied that the smaller organisations will abide by the CRB's code of practice. The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services has a list of registered umbrella bodies across the UK that provides this service (see box).
The application process itself is fairly straightforward. Individuals must disclose their full name, date of birth, national insurance number and addresses for the past five years. They must also state the position they intend to hold and whether they have any unspent criminal convictions. Either three or five types of documentation are required to confirm their identity, depending on the type of ID the applicant has available.
The form must then be returned to the CRB with a payment (see below). Most disclosures take between 10 and 28 days to process, depending on the level of checks required.
Different levels of checks
There are two types of checks: standard and enhanced. Standard checks will divulge details of all convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the police national computer.
In the case of youth workers and others, information will also be sought from the Protection of Children Act List, the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List, and information held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002.
Enhanced checks will be carried out for posts involving a greater degree of contact with children and young people. The general rule of thumb for youth workers will be if they are required to take sole charge of a group. For example Scout or Guide leaders are cited in the guidance as examples of positions that require enhanced checks. These enhanced checks contain the same information as a standard one but with the addition of consulting the local police for any further relevant details.
Enhanced checks cost £36 and standard ones £31. Checks are free for volunteers, although the CRB is clamping down on these after too many organisations tried to "extend the definition" of a volunteer.
Previous convictions
Just because an individual has a criminal record doesn't necessarily mean that they can't be taken on. According to Volunteering England, up to 20 per cent of the working population has at least one criminal conviction, which means a huge potential could be lost if employers decided to rule these people out.
How an organisation decides to act on the information disclosed by the criminal check is largely up to them. The CRB sets out in its code of practice that organisations that register with it should have a written policy about the recruitment of former offenders, but it also expects a common-sense approach to be adopted.
The CRB has a list of considerations that organisations should take into account when considering convictions, which include whether the conviction is relevant to the position and the seriousness of the offence. The fact that someone has committed a serious criminal act may not automatically rule them out of working with young people either. The CRB recommends contacting crime prevention charity Nacro for further advice in such instances.
MORE INFO
- The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services plans to run a seminar on criminal record checks this month. For further details email mail@ncvys.org.uk
- The Criminal Records Bureau has lots of resources on the vetting process: www.crb.gov.uk
- Nacro is able to answer specific queries on good practice in relation to employment and offenders. Email helpline@nacro.org.uk.