After years of pressure from CPT and many other organisations, the Government has come up with a proposed way of ending pointless and repetitive Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, which hit both operators and councils.
New legislation from September 1 this year will formally repeal the registration and continuous monitoring system. A number of other changes, of less interest to our industry, will be introduced at the same time.
At the start of December this year, the work of the CRB and Independent Safeguarding Authority will be merged into a new public body – the Disclosure and Barring Service. From a date to be announced in early 2013, individuals will be able to apply for a check and, at the same time, subscribe to an update service. They will be able to show any relevant organisation their certificate, and use a code to get an online confirmation from the Disclosure and Barring Service that there either have, or have not, been any changes to the information shown on the certificate. The fee for this service is expected to be £10 per person per year.
Welcoming the news, Christopher Nice, CPT Deputy Director of Communications, told CBW: “We’re delighted with this outcome. CRB portability is something the CPT has been fighting for a number of years and is something which will make operators’ lives much easier.”
CPT said it expects to continue to offer its umbrella body service, enabling members to confirm the identity and eligibility of applicants for checks. Details can be found in the online Compliance Manual.
One aspect which is not changing is the duty to make a referral – for the time being to the ISA – If your organisation dismisses or removes a member of staff from working with children and/or vulnerable adults because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult.
