John Walker

Via Email

2^nd December 2008

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your request, received on 18^th November 2008 made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find attached our response.

Re-Use of Information

Any information we provide following your request under the Freedom of Information Act will not confer an automatic right for you to re-use that information, for example to publish it. If you wish to re-use the information that we provide and you do not specify this in your initial application for information then you must make a further request for it's re-use as per the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 www.opsi.gov.uk. This will not affect your initial information request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.

If you are not content with our response you can request a review by writing to:

Head of Policy

Criminal Records Bureau

PO Box 165

Liverpool

L69 3JD

Yours Sincerely

Freedom of Information Team

FOI Reference Number:

Information Requested:

1. What is your policy and what systems do you have in place for

ensuring that people who train children on Common Purpose courses

have passed the necessary criminal records checks?

2. Please supply evidence/records that you have that Common Purpose

trainers who deal with children have passed the necessary criminal

records checks.

Response :

The CRB issues Higher Level Disclosures for employment and licensing purposes, as provided for in part V of the Police Act 1997. Higher Level Disclosures (Standard and Enhanced) can only be asked for in relation to positions that are included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA) (Exceptions) Order 1975. These are positions/licensing requirements for which an employer/regulatory authority may ask to see spent as well as unspent conviction information, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer (PNC) as well as other relevant information held by other data sources.

The Police Act 1997 provides the eligibility for a CRB Disclosure however there is no mandatory requirement for such checks. It would be for the employer to decide if a Disclosure is necessary for the position applied for. The employer should make their own judgement based on their own risk assessment process and other legislation they may be bound by.

Those that apply for a CRB check do not `pass' or `fail' such a check. The CRB issue a Disclosure Certificate which will provide the employer with any criminal record and/or other relevant information (if held) about the applicant. It is the responsibility of the employer to make the final recruitment decision based on the information gained during the recruitment process e.g. skills, qualifications, experience and the results of a CRB check.