Crb ?

mess0804

I am looking for a job for some time now and see that there are some that ask for the candidate to have a CRB Clearance. (like this job here: http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/Ealing/Admin-Secretarial-PA/Administrator-CRB-Cleared/?JobID=17623366&k=Administrator+-+CRB+Cleared&l=london&s=3&jt=1,3,4,2&ns=True&lit=2)


I searched on the Internet on the Criminal Records Bureau and they say : If you have been asked to apply for a CRB check you will need to speak to the person who asked you to apply as they will be able to provide you with the application form.

So I can't apply for myself, someelse has to give me a form to apply

But usually the agencys want to to have it already ... so how can I make it? I see that the jobs that ask for this have usually less applicants so maybe I would have better chances, but I have no ideea how to get a CRB check Any ideeas?

Pont

To self-register you will need to:

• Call the CRB on 0870 90 90 844, and choose option 1 to get through to the correct department

I've just found this information - not sure if it's any good as I'm CRB checked through my work. Perhaps try this number and explain your situation.

LittleVoice

As the OP is correct to say that an individual can not apply for a CRB check on their own behalf, I see no point in phoning an 0870 number (unless it is free with BT's new offer).

In any case the number quoted is for an organisation registered with the CRB which has an enquiry about its account with the CRB, or an invoice received from the CRB. It's not a number for an individual unless they are requesting a form to complete - but that would still need to be submitted through an employer/umbrella organisation.

joolsybools

Talk to Reed. See if they will pay for it when you register with them. If they won't then offer to pay half and if they won't back down pay the whole cost yourself.

Pont

LittleVoice wrote: »

As the OP is correct to say that an individual can not apply for a CRB check on their own behalf, I see no point in phoning an 0870 number (unless it is free with BT's new offer).

In any case the number quoted is for an organisation registered with the CRB which has an enquiry about its account with the CRB, or an invoice received from the CRB. It's not a number for an individual unless they are requesting a form to complete - but that would still need to be submitted through an employer/umbrella organisation.

Taken on board. However, by phoning the number at least the OP would have had the opportunity to speak to 'a real person' who could have perhaps answered any questions relating to her particular query.

Pont

Just as an addition. I've had to be CRB checked for several organizations within the same county (college, school and local authority) all within 6 months of each other. When I've explained that I've already been checked, and produced the paperwork, I've been told that each organization have to perform their own CRB checks. The upshoot of this is that if Reed is asking that an applicant has already been CRB checked surely that check is only valid for one particular employer and isn't a 'blanket' check? I'd be interested if anyone can shed some light on this as it seems pretty ludicrous to me that I needed 3 separate ones.

tazdeviluk

iI work for a recruitment agency. CRBs are a common practice, not requested by the agency directly, but the clients who we work for.

There are 2 main problems, one is the length of time the check takes, anything from 14 to 16 weeks, the second being CRBs are not portable, so if you work for 5 agencies, you would need a seperate CRB check for each, even though its the same data on each.

The way round it is if you have a CRB from somewhere else, you start work, but apply for a new CRB, so one is under application,

Because of the length of time the CRB can take, a candidate is of no use if they need to fill the booking quickly.

It is worth asking if you can apply for a CRB with an agency, however bear in mind it will be them you need to initially work for, and they can not guarantee you work.

Not an easy situation for the agencies nor the candidates.

In time the process will get much easier, but at the moment is a shambles

Savvy_Sue

Pont wrote: »

Just as an addition. I've had to be CRB checked for several organizations within the same county (college, school and local authority) all within 6 months of each other. When I've explained that I've already been checked, and produced the paperwork, I've been told that each organization have to perform their own CRB checks. The upshoot of this is that if Reed is asking that an applicant has already been CRB checked surely that check is only valid for one particular employer and isn't a 'blanket' check? I'd be interested if anyone can shed some light on this as it seems pretty ludicrous to me that I needed 3 separate ones.

If you look on the CRB website for information about portability, all will be explained.

But in short, I check CRB applications at work, and this includes checking your ID. You can show me as many copies as you like of the disclosure statement you've been sent, but I haven't checked your ID documents against your CRB application, so I can't be sure you are the person named in the application. Also I need an 'enhanced' disclosure - you may only have a standard one, which means there's more you haven't told me about. Not to mention the fact that the CRB has passed information about you to - say - Reed, but Reed can't pass that information to me because that's against Data Protection. CRB can only give me information if I ask for it.

And so on, and so on. Plus, we use volunteers who sometimes successfully apply for jobs with us. There's no charge for a CRB if you're volunteering, but once you start working for us we have to pay for a new check.

One reason, however, for asking if you've already had a CRB check done is that it gives you the chance to say "Yes, and it was clean", or "Yes, and there are some things you need to know" or "No". Once you've had one done, you usually know whether you have anything to declare or not!

Pont

I can see the process you go through Savvy_Sue, I just think it is a long, drawn out process at present and perhaps there should be some joined up thinking here. I
n my case, and I known each case is different, I felt is could have been administered more effeciently. In short, I was CRB checked by the LEA as I was employed as working with young people. As part of my job I was seconded to a local college of FE who also insisted on their own CRB, despite being in the same county as the LEA previously mentioned. I then got sent to work with school aged pupils and each individual school had to perform their own CRB although their LEA had already checked me out.
It just seems that although my primary employer had gone through the checks, all of the subsequent secondary employers had to, legally, perform exactly the same checks. What a waste ofr time and money methinks.

PolishBigSpender

Something I can't understand about the CRB system in the UK.

I made a decision when in the UK to have all our staff CRB checked - not because they were working with vulnerable people, but rather that we wanted to make sure that there was nothing unsavory in their background. Any conviction for fraud for instance would have been thoroughly investigated.

So, a CRB check was done against me as a Polish national. Understandably, absolutely nothing came up - although this was an 'enhanced' disclosure. I've been convicted of speeding in Poland and I'm led to believe that with an enhanced disclosure, even speeding convictions will show up.

Given all this, isn't the system somewhat useless when dealing with people from another country?

Savvy_Sue

Yup. But there are some additional reasons for it being like that:

1. Data protection: once your disclosure comes through, it should not be kept on file, but just checked to ensure that you are an 'OK' person to be employed. After that, it should be shredded. All there should be on file is a note to confirm the check was carried out.
2. You are employed by the LEA - let's call that A. They want you to work in a College - B. Then you work in some schools - C, D and E. All of these are might seem to be under the overall oversight of A, but for these purposes they are not. Each college principal or head teacher has to take responsibility for ensuring that everyone employed within the school is an appropriate person. Can B, C, D or E go back to A and say "we'd like to see Pont's disclosure?" No, because the LEA has quite rightly destroyed it after checking that there's nothing on it to indicate that you are not a suitable person to do the work they want done.
3. The work you do in each of these places may be similar, but in some roles a particular kind of criminal record might be OK, and in others not. For example, a youth worker with a 'troubled past' may be in a very good position to relate to young people, and a not too recent conviction - say, for TWOCing - might not be a bar to employment in that role, as long as the employer was satisfied there was unlikely to be any repeat. However, if E want you to drive the school minibus, that TWOCing might make them think twice, unless it was a very long time ago. It would almost certainly affect the insurance premiums! Likewise a conviction for Theft might not make you unsuitable as a Youth Worker, but rule you out as a bookkeeper.

You might think I'm a huge fan of the CRB, but I'm not. I don't think it materially improves the safety of children: some people seem to think that CRB = 'safe' person, which clearly it doesn't, or no CRB = 'unsafe' person, which is equally ludicrous. However, as long as we need some kind of system, it probably has to be as convoluted as this one. Because your record is only as clean as your last CRB anyway.