Certificates of Good Conduct

The request was successful.

Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

This question relates to potential employees and volunteers who seek to engage in providing services to children and vulnerable adults.

1. Please provide your policy and practice guidance on vetting and debarring including provisions concerning certificates of good conduct (CGC).

2. CGCs.

What is the legal basis for requesting them?

Who applies and pays for them? In relation to some countries individuals can give others a power of attorney.

A government-commissioned report suggests that for some countries CGC information may be unreliable. What steps do you take to verify it if the person to whom it relates challenges it?

How do you ensure that CGCs obtained from overseas are consistent with the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and dont include, for example, convictions for matters that would not be a crime in the UK or would be considered spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act?

3. I refer to Article 8 of the Human Rights Act and the recent case of (R(T) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and Others [2013] EWCA) concerning the right to privacy. What steps have you taken or do you intend to take and to what effect to amend your policies concerning vetting and debarring and certificates of good conduct in light of this ruling?

4. Your Local Authority is known to employ a significant number of social workers who trained outside of the UK (information provided before its demise by the General Social Care Council) and came to you as foreign nationals; others may have taken up British citizenship since then. Where such persons take leave of absence(e.g. maternity leave, extended sick leave)for a period of time what steps are taken to ascertain whether they have left the UK perhaps to return to their home country and what steps are taken to require such persons to provide a police check/certificate of good conduct to cover the period for which they have left the UK?

5. How many prospective volunteers have been required to provide a certificate of good conduct for the last 12 month period for which information is available and in how many such cases did disclosures on the certificate contribute to them not taking up such a role?

Yours faithfully,

Charles Bell

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Dear Mr Bell,

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your recent request for information, a copy of which is enclosed below. Your request is now being dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a public authority has to respond within 20 working days.  Accordingly you will receive our full response in due course.

Yours sincerely

Andy Marshall
Information Compliance Manager
Risk and Assurance Services
Bath & North East Somerset Council
Telephone: 01225 477961
Facsimile: 01225 477387
www.bathnes.gov.uk
 
Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and visit.
 
Please consider the environment before printing this email.

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Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Bell,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information. Please find enclosed
the information you are entitled to receive under the (legislation).

 

I trust that we have answered your queries, however if you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

If you are unhappy with the response to your request, you may ask for an
internal review within 40 working days of receipt of this request. Please
contact the Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance Services, Mr Jeff
Wring at the Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW
[1]mailto:[email address].

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

 

Please note that we have not, by way of this disclosure, granted any
permission for you to reuse or further publish the information disclosed
to you.  Please refer to the attached disclaimer regarding reuse. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andy Marshall

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 477961

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[3]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

 

From:  Charles Bell <[FOI #156096 email]>

Sent:    05 April 2013 22:53

To:       Information Governance

Subject:           Freedom of Information request - Certificates of Good
Conduct

 

     Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

    

     This question relates to potential employees and volunteers who

     seek to engage in providing services to children and vulnerable

     adults.

    

     1. Please provide your policy and practice guidance on vetting and

     debarring including provisions concerning certificates of good

     conduct (CGC).

    

     2. CGCs.

    

     What is the legal basis for requesting them?

    

     Who applies and pays for them? In relation to some countries

     individuals can give others a power of attorney.

    

     A government-commissioned report suggests that for some countries

     CGC information may be unreliable. What steps do you take to verify

     it if the person to whom it relates challenges it?

    

     How do you ensure that CGCs obtained from overseas are consistent

     with the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and dont

     include, for example, convictions for matters that would not be a

     crime in the UK or would be considered spent under the

     Rehabilitation of Offenders Act?

    

     3. I refer to Article 8 of the Human Rights Act and the recent case

     of (R(T) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and Others [2013]

     EWCA) concerning the right to privacy. What steps have you taken or

     do you intend to take and to what effect to amend your policies

     concerning vetting and debarring and certificates of good conduct

     in light of this ruling?

    

     4. Your Local Authority is known to employ a significant number of

     social workers who trained outside of the UK (information provided

     before its demise by the General Social Care Council) and came to

     you as foreign nationals; others may have taken up British

     citizenship since then. Where such persons take leave of

     absence(e.g. maternity leave, extended sick leave)for a period of

     time what steps are taken to ascertain whether they have left the

     UK perhaps to return to their home country and what steps are taken

     to require such persons to provide a police check/certificate of

     good conduct to cover the period for which they have left the UK?

    

     5. How many prospective volunteers have been required to provide a

     certificate of good conduct for the last 12 month period for which

     information is available and in how many such cases did disclosures

     on the certificate contribute to them not taking up such a role?

    

     Yours faithfully,

    

     Charles Bell

 

 

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