ABOUT THE CRB
The CRB is an important government initiative. Its purpose is to help all types of organisations in England and Wales make more informed recruitment decisions.
Purpose
The CRB achieves its purpose by providing a service called Disclosure. This is a carefully regulated one-stop shop service that enables organisations to gain access to important criminal and other information for recruitment and licensing purposes.
Performance
The CRB helps organisations to perform better by screening out candidates who may be unsuitable for certain kinds of work. In doing this it particularly helps to provide protection for children and other vulnerable members of society.
In terms of its own performance the CRB operates as an executive agency of the Home Office. It is run by a Chief Executive who is responsible to the Home Secretary for the implementation of its work.
Accordingly, it constitutes an important instrument of government. It is intended to play a significant role in executing the declared Home Office vision and objective of building a safe, just and tolerant society.
WHO WE ARE
The CRB operates the Disclosure service under a Public Private Partnership set up between the Government and the private sector. Our other partnerships build on this. Following a rigorous tender process Capita was selected as the private sector partner. Within the CRB partnership private sector skills are mainly focused on the delivery of key Disclosure services. Amongst other things, this involves developing and maintaining the IT infrastructure; operating the call centre; and making the initial identity check on applicants. The public sector responsibility focuses more on setting the overall CRB strategy and other key matters including checking complex cases; dealing with disputes; managing relationships with local police and other data sources; and the registration process for Registered and Umbrella Bodies.
Partnership with the police
At both national and local levels our primary data partners are the police forces of England and Wales. In establishing this partnership we have received a great deal of support and co-operation from local police forces and the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Partnerships with government departments
The Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have for many years held lists of people thought to be unsuitable to work with children. The evaluation of unsuitability has been based on the track records of the people concerned. Following on the Police Act of 1997, the Protection of Children Act 1999 introduced the concept of a one-stop shop service by bringing information from these two departments into the Disclosure service.
Thus both departments of state are major data partners with the CRB in the operation of the Disclosure service.
Partnerships with organisations that are recruiting
It is fundamental to our operational philosophy that we should also establish partnerships with organisations that are recruiting people for posts involving contact with children or vulnerable adults.
These recruiting organisations have a major role to play in helping us to uphold the highest standards for handling and storing confidential information about prospective employees. Accordingly, the whole process whereby such organisations become Registered Bodies is designed to ensure that the resulting partnerships are close and productive.
Recruiting organisations can either register for the service directly or, if they are small, gain access via an intermediary organisation called an Umbrella Body.
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