should staff be crb checked?

susan11

yes, I dont know about procedure but i thought it was actually the law

Gordon_Hose

It's not the law.

And, as has already been pointed out, they are pointless as they only show up people who have been caught already.

fred7777

No CRB checks are not a legal requirement although lots of organizations view them as good practice.

The Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) was to make CRB checking and Independant Safeguarding Agency registration a legal requirement for certain jobs but this is being scaled back. Aside from anything else nobody has been able to implement a sensible/workable system since the law was written in 2006!

The original post misses some important information about the Play centre. Specifically do parents leave their children there or are parents present? and Where is the children's play area eg council park or shopping centre?

dawnybabes

If the staff are not left alone with the children ie parents dont leave the centre then no they don't have to be checked - it is up to you as a parent to supervise your children. You don't CRB everyone they meet in the park ?

Best practice would be to CRB check the staff but this has a huge cost for these business as the staff turnover is quite high.

crabyducky

the problem, with crbs is that they are only valid the moment they are issued. i could have a crb done and it show up as all ok, i give this to my employer who takes me on not knowing that i had commited an offence afterwards

crabyducky

it may not be that law to have a CRB, but it would probably be against local authority policy to allow any childrens service to run with staff who are not CRB checked. (this usually also includes cleaners, part time/temps etc. if there is the possibiliy of them comming into contact with children then they should have the check)

as to what to do about the situation i would contact the local authority to check, better to be safe than sorry.

unfortunately the VBS (vetting and barring scheme) is now on hold and although only voulntary, was supoposed to be compulsary within the next few years

see

http://www.criminalrecordchecks.co.uk/vetting-and-barring-scheme-vbs.html

Uncertain

crabyducky wrote: »

i could have a crb done and it show up as all ok, i give this to my employer who takes me on not knowing that i had commited an offence afterwards

No you can't.

You cannot apply for a check on yourself - this can cause real problems to one person businesses where it might be considered appropriate.

The employer / club / group or whatever has to apply. The check is not "portable" between employers.

As an aside, the whole business is a total media led, over hyped farce and causes real problems in some areas.

If ever the road to hell was paved with good intentions, this is it.

Finally, all kinds of myths seem to spring up on the back of this which then extend to the police even starting to enforce laws that don't exist - such as non existent restrictions on photography in public places.

A fiasco!

Sorry, rant over!

heretolearn_2

'MEan there is no cctv in the play frame so what happens if a member of staff is up there cleaning and a child runs down to a parent saying they touched them. Its the staff that get it in the neck because the manager hasn't crbed them.'

What difference would a crb check make in these circumstances? Do you think an allegation would be ignored because someone had the crb check? No.

crabyducky

Uncertain wrote: »

No you can't.

You cannot apply for a check on yourself - this can cause real problems to one person businesses where it might be considered appropriate.

The employer / club / group or whatever has to apply. The check is not "portable" between employers.

As an aside, the whole business is a total media led, over hyped farce and causes real problems in some areas.

If ever the road to hell was paved with good intentions, this is it.

Finally, all kinds of myths seem to spring up on the back of this which then extend to the police even starting to enforce laws that don't exist - such as non existent restrictions on photography in public places.

A fiasco!

Sorry, rant over!

sorry i worded that incorrectly im aware that i cant get my own. i meant to have one done that they employer recieves.

the problem i mentioned arises as most employers renew crbs every 3 years in that time you can get into all sorts of trouble. hence why they are only valid the moment they are issued.

silverjay

At work we generally find that any of the schools where we carry out repairs refuse to let our staff on site unless they have been enhanced level CRB checks. Occasionally they will let our staff work in specified areas without the CRB but if they need to access a classroom, toilet area or walk through the playground then they have to request a chaperone from the school to escort them as set down in the local authority rules & regulations.

Not sure about the private sector though.