From Jackie Elliman
Legal & Industrial Relations, Independent Theatre Council
In the world of Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) Disclosures there is a constant sense that one has entered into topsy-turveydom. This was heightened when I read Virginia Haworth-Galts article in AP issue 152. The Independent Theatre Council (ITC) has been registered as an Umbrella Body with the CRB since its inception in 2002 and, as ITCs lead signatory, I have been involved in processing thousands of Disclosure applications for our members. My perceptions of the changes highlighted in the article are rather different.
With the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 precluding any general enquiries about a job applicants criminal record, there has never been a time when anyone could automatically take out Enhanced Disclosures for anyone working with children and young people. Every case has always had to be judged on its own merits and criminal records only checked when the law allows. ITCs advice that the safety first check everyone approach is heavy-handed and sometimes illegal. The issues of portability and freelance CRB checks are not, in my view, linked. Portability is about whether an employer chooses to accept a CRB check made for a previous job. The CRB used to issue guidelines about this: they now discourage portability and will not issue guidance as this could be seen as endorsement. Freelances are restricted when it comes to getting a CRB Disclosure since the genuinely self-employed do not have an independent potential employer who can check their identification documents a key part of the CRB process. The CRB, unsurprisingly, does not allow them to check themselves. I believe this has been the case since the CRBs inception, though it has only been publicised recently. The cull of Registered Bodies referred to in the article has clearly caused problems for some arts organisations. However, it has probably lessened any dilemma an employer may have had over the Disclosure form if they are not a Registered Body they should hand it back after they have checked it. When a CRB check is made via an Umbrella Body the Disclosure is sent to the Umbrella Body and to the job applicant. The employer should insist on seeing it, but they cannot copy or keep it, only copy the top third of the page and/or record the Disclosure date and number. The applicant keeps the Disclosure as long as employers will keep accepting it; the Umbrella Body must destroy its copy within six months.