Criminal Records Bureau

Police Checks
The term 'Police Check' is now obsolete in the UK. Many people will still express themselves using that terminology but the real word is 'Disclosure'.

You are still able to obtain information from the police under the public assess route using the Data Protection Act 1998 legislation. However, this is not acceptable for employment purposes, as it does not cover legislation under the Rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions Order) or Part V of the Police Act 1997. These Acts were revised in the year 2000 and cover areas of access never before allowed to organisations employing persons in positions of trust.

The most important aspect of Disclosure is the protection of children and vulnerable adults where only an Enhanced Disclosure will suffice. An Enhanced Disclosure provides details of a person's criminal record including convictions (spent and unspent), cautions, reprimands and any warnings held on the police national computer. If the job involves working with children, it also contains details from lists held by the Department of Health, the Department for Skills and Education, other information from local police forces and the Chief officer of police in a particular area. In exceptional circumstances, confidential information may be sent under separate cover which is not revealed to the applicant.

A Standard Disclosure provides details of a person's criminal record including convictions (spent and unspent), cautions, reprimands and any warnings held on the police national computer. This type of Disclosure applies to many professions, including Doctors, solicitors, financial advisors, bank and building society managers, vets and many others placed in positions of trust. You can now see a Disclosure is nothing like an old police check (now an offence for employers to ask you to do this) where you are provided with a large, watermarked ‘certificate–style' form in order to produce to potential employers. This gives assurance that you are safe to be placed in the position offered and they can make a fully informed decision as to your employment.

Those that have their Disclosures already, go straight to the top of the employment tree. You cannot obtain a Disclosure without going to a Registered Body who also receives a copy of the Disclosure.

Police Checks Abroad
The CRB Disclosures is only suitable for person who have been in the UK for more than 6 months. Civil and Corporate Security can undertake criminal checks on applicants from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, although these are more costly than the CRB

Why certain employees need a CRB check.
Recent legislation, Part V of the Police Act 1997, has been introduced in order to protect certain vulnerable groups within society. This Act encompasses the Rehabilitations Act 1974, making certain posts ‘exempt' from declining to furnish employers with their past criminal history. These posts include those involving access to children, young people, the elderly, disabled people, alcohol or drug misusers and the chronically sick. Many health service appointments and jobs involving the administration of justice, banking, and other financial services and national security are also exempted. In such cases, organisations are legally entitled to ask applicants for details of all convictions, irrespective of whether they are ‘spent' or ‘unspent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. The legislation now authorises registered companies to obtain details of a criminal history from the Criminal Records Bureau, an executive agency of the Home Office. These details are contained in what is termed a ‘Disclosure'.

There are three types of Disclosure: Basic/Standard/Enhanced

Basic Disclosure
This Disclosure is NOT suitable for applicants working with children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. The Basic Disclosure only contains information held on Central Police records that are unspent according to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Standard Disclosure
This contains information about both spent and unspent convictions, as well as cautions, warnings and reprimands. It is available in relation to posts that involve regular contact with Children and other vulnerable groups. It also checks information held by the DH and DfES. Standard disclosures are also issued to people entering certain professions, such as legal and finance professions, to name but two. This Disclosure can ONLY be obtained through a Registered Body to the CRB. Not by the individuals themselves.

Enhanced Disclosure
This relates to particularly sensitive area of work, e.g. involving unsupervised contact with children, young people, and vulnerable groups. It is the most comprehensive and appropriate check that is available to organisations and gives thorough information on all records held PNC, local police files, DH and DfES. List 99, POCA list (Protection of Children Act) and the POVA list (Protection of Vulnerable Adults). These are lists of Adults deemed NOT suitable to work with Children, but may not have been prosecuted. In addition, the Chief Officer of police may release information for inclusion in an Enhanced disclosure and additional information may be sent under separate cover which is not released to the applicant. This check can ONLY be obtained through a Registered Body to the CRB.

Why is a Disclosure Necessary?
Under the Protection of Children Act 1999 and the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, it is an offence for any organisation to offer employment that involves regular contact with young people under the age of 18 to anyone who has been convicted of certain specified offences or included on lists of people considered unsuitable for such work held by the DH and DfES. The act applies to employment agencies and employment business whether they are carried on by commercial concerns for profit or by non-profit making bodies. A reputable agency will carefully vetted potential nannies. The DfES has set up guidelines for Nanny Agencies. These agencies are expected to interview the nannies on their books and carry out the relevant police, qualification and background checks to ensure they are properly qualified to work with children.

What are the benefits of the CRB checks to the Agency?
If it becomes your company policy that any candidate seeking employment through your organisation requires a CRB Enhanced Disclosure, you will automatically prevent offenders, with a masked history, continuing with their application and, therefore, saving you time and any potential risk to the family. It will enhance your company profile and reputation with clients and potential clients alike, giving them complete ‘peace of mind' that the candidates you place have been assessed as suitable to work with their children. It will help your organisation to justify the fee charged to your clients that NO shortcuts are taken when checking the background of your applicants. In any event of a problem occurring with a candidate you have placed, it may help to protect your organisation against any civil or criminal action taken against you, as you will be able to prove that you carried out all available verification procedures, within the given legislation, on the suitability of candidates. The Benefits to your Clients of the CRB Enhanced Disclosure 'Peace of Mind' in the knowledge that their employee or potential employee has been deemed as suitable to work in their environment, in close contact with their children. Secure in the knowledge that their employee or potential employee has not been convicted of an offence of dishonesty and, therefore, their home and possessions should, as far as practicable, remain safe. It can also assist when building a trusting relationship with the new employee that they have let into their home.

Benefits to the candidate.
The benefits to the candidate of the CRB Enhanced Disclosure All candidates with the appropriate Disclosure will appear to be very serious about their choice of profession by undertaking this security check and, therefore, will be looked upon more favourably by potential employers. It can be used as an extra selling point when at interview stage to prove they have NO criminal convictions that could potentially put a client's child at risk. When working overseas, the candidate will be able to take the Disclosure with them in order to prove that they have undergone thorough security vetting in the UK, therefore saving the time of the potential employer seeking background information of the candidate.

For further information contact Civil and Corporate Security
security@civilandcorporate.co.uk
Tel:0844 815 6037

Criminal Records Bureau

CRB Information Line: 0870 90 90 811

For more details information, see the CRB Disclosure web site.