CRB Checks

The following information has been obtained from the government website regarding CRB checks. If you would like more information about the Criminal Records Bureau or CRB Checks please refer to the government website www.crb.gov.uk The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), is an Executive Agency of the Home Office, established under Part V of the Police Act 1997 and launched in March 2002. It is an important government initiative and its purpose is to help all types of organisations in England and Wales make more informed recruitment decisions. The CRB achieves its purpose by providing a service called Disclosure. This is a carefully regulated one-stop shop service that enables organisations to gain access to important criminal and other information for recruitment and licensing purposes. This service enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involve children or vulnerable adults. This is particularly important for positions involving trust of any sort. Such trust is critical in posts involving contact with the vulnerable. It is also vital for upholding standards of professional performance and for organisations empowered by statute to issue licences The Disclosure service implemented through the CRB has been designed so that relevant information can be made available to many more organisations – but always with the consent of the individual applicant. As prospective employees or volunteer workers, individuals need to be reassured that the Disclosure service will ensure that they are evaluated fairly and that their rights to privacy are not prejudiced. The CRB has addressed this issue in a number of ways: No Disclosures can be issued without the consent of an individual applicant. The information provided on Disclosures is always provided to individual applicants. If they are unhappy about any aspect of it or believe it to be wrong they can challenge it and have it reviewed. There are increased safeguards in the Code of Practice to ensure that personal information provided by the CRB to any organisation remains confidential. This is to ensure that the individual’s rights to privacy should not be abused. Contact Details There are several umbrella organisations that can do the checks for you at little or no cost: Young Lives www.young-lives.org.uk Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire www.adec.org.uk East Cambridgeshire District Council www.eastcambs.gov.uk Natural High www.natural-high.net There are also a variety of Child Protection providers who offer courses in Child Protection Cambridgeshire Area Child Protection Committee www.cambsacpc.org.uk Cambridgeshire Local Safeguarding Child Board www.cambslscb.org.uk Young Lives www.young-lives.org.uk NSPCC www.nspcc.org.uk

Letting the Future In

A celebration of innovative community projects for Children and Young people
A local family project has been included as a case study in a new publication celebrating innovative community and voluntary projects funded by the Department for Education and Skill’s Local Network Fund for Children and Young People has recently been launched.

‘Letting the Future In’, published by Community Links, is available free of charge and features innovative projects supported by the LNF which are contributing to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters - the government policy framework for children and young people.

The East Cambs Family Project
The group received a grant of £7,000 to fund a series of parenting workshops in rural areas where support to parents was in short supply. The workshops contained information on child development, importance of play, healthy eating and challenging behaviour. The advantage of running the courses in the rural villages meant more families were able to access information, support and advice and benefit from meeting in their own community to share their knowledge and experiences.

The project is one of 74 case studies from across the country that are included in the book.
Parmjit Dhanda, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, said:“Local communities have an important role to play in improving the lives of children and young people. The document “Letting the Future In” will be a valuable resource to those individuals or organisations wanting to do more to help children and young people to grow and learn. The case studies detailed in its pages will be an inspiration, demonstrating how voluntary or community groups can make a real difference.”

A free of charge copy ‘Letting the Future In’ can be obtained by telephoning 0845 602 2260 and quoting stock ref LNF/LTFI. The full text of ‘Letting the Future In’ is also available to download in from the Community Links website www.community-links.org as well as the Every Child Matters website www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/localnetworkfund