Thursday, January 01, 1970
OBTAINING POLICE CHECKS ON STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
There is some concern that the current system is at breaking point. The Chair of the Bristol Partnership has written to the Chief Constable (25 Nov). A fuller BAND briefing is available (Tel 0117 954 2128) on which much of this page is based (thanks Paul). Most local groups arrange their checks though BAND. A response has been received from Home Office (effective system in 2 years!) which has been passed on to our MP's. A meeting is to be arranged locally with the Police in the New Year.
Guidance for providers of day care services
|
Why are police checks necessary ?
Managers of day care services and parents need to be sure that people who are employed, or who volunteer, to work with children are suitable to have continuous and close access to them. Staff and volunteers need the security of knowing that their reputations and work will not be compromised.
Statutory Provision: Under Part X of the Children Act 1989 (annex.C) responsibility for the registration & inspection of Childcare settings rests with the Social Services Dept of the local authority. As a part of this process, when the Act became law in 1991 it was envisaged that when registering out-of-school schemes the Dept would run checks (inc police checks) on all paid staff. The volume of requests (inc from new OSCI funded schemes) and inadequacy of resourcing led to successive guidance on running checks. This means that currently Social Services only check the Senior Worker and deputy (and on large schemes, sometimes other workers). This usually means there will be unchecked paid staff employed at the setting. Voluntary staff cannot be checked. The cost of checks is incorporated within the overall registration/ inspection charge (which may be waived) and usually takes a minimum of 6 -8 weeks to complete.
Voluntary Organisations Consultancy Service (VOCS) As part of the implementation of the Children Act 1989, VOCS was established to provide advice & support to voluntary groups around the legislation. In addition it established a system to complement existing statutory procedures to run criminal records checks on paid and unpaid staff "who will have substantial access to children." The system can be accessed by 12 national umbrella organisations (see below). The system occasionally becomes overloaded due to the volume of requests and "shuts down". There is a charge per check by VOCS and most agencies add their own admin charge. Checks take a minimum of 6 - 8 weeks to complete.
BAND research its members in 1995 showed that only half had been able to get all
paid staff checked. Schemes that were exempt from registration (eg an Afterschool Club
operating for 2 hours per day) were often unable to get any staff checked. In 1996 BAND
established a system through FPC (or which BAND is a member). The system offers full &
affiliated BAND members checks on those paid & voluntary staff who are unchecked by
Social Services.
How can police checks be obtained ?
Managers of day care services such as nurseries, out of school clubs,
playgroups, or creches can obtain police checks on prospective staff, or volunteers,
through membership of BAND or the Fair Play for Children scheme at the following
addresses:
BAND (Bristol Assiciation of
Neighbourhood Daycare) 81 St Nicholas Road, St Paul's Bristol
BS2 9JJ Tel: (0117) 954 2128 Fax: (0117) 954 1694
Fair Play for Children
35 Lyon Street, Bognor Regis PO21 1BW Tel & Fax: (01243) 86922
Kids Club Network
National Federation of City Farms
Current BAND charges (inc BAND admin) are for affiliated members: £14 per paid
worker, £5 per voluntary worker; or for full members £11 per paid worker, £4 per
volunteer.
The annual cost of membership of Fair Play for Children was £6 for individuals,
£12 for local groups and £18 for regional groups . The cost of obtaining police checks
on a prospective member of staff is £5 and for a prospective volunteer,£1.
Checking times vary greatly between police forces, and are quickest when only one
force is involved. Average time for the completion of checks is supposed to be 4 - 6 weeks
- but it can in practice take longer an average of 8 - 10 weeks.
To maintain confidentiality of information obtained from police checks, details are given
to a nominated Responsible Officer appointed by each member organisation, who will be
identified by a PIN.
ON THE RECORD -
In June 96 the Government issued a White Paper "On the Record" which proposed the establishment of a Criminal Records Agency (CRA) and the intreoduction of a three tier system of police checks:-
 | Criminal Conviction Certificates (CCC) would be accessed by workers on request through their local police force on payment of a fee and would show unspent convictions, serious convictions, and persistant offending.These would be similar to the "good conduct" certificates available in several European countries where employees produce the CC for prospective employers. |
| Full Criminal Records Check (FCRC) would be accessed by employers on payment of a higher fee and would include details of spent convictions, cautions, bind-overs, probationary orders, etc. FCRC would offer a similar level of checks to that currently provided by the statutory and VOCS system. |
| Enhanced Criminal Records Check (ECRC) would be accessed by employers payment of a higher fee and would include details of "soft" (intelligence) information. |
At the time of the White Paper concerns were raised by a number of organisations over the possible civil liberties implications of such checks. There was also concern at the level of cost that might be involved. As a result of the Dunblane tragedy (1996) and the resulting Cullen Report (October 96), the progress of the White Paper was put on hold. There has been little progress since the General Election (May 97).
CURRENT CONCERNS
The current situation concerning the availability of police checks is widely regarded as unsatisfactory. Relevant Social Service and Police departments do not have the resources to process the volume of checks that a "check for all staff" approach would generate.
The number of groups contracting into the BAND system continues to rise (now 41), both from Out-Of-School Clubs (playschemes/ after school) and other childcare providers where staff have "substantial access to children". Since 1996 over 200 checks have been processed. There is currently concern that the system could shutdown as FPC approach their VOCS quota of 3,000 checks per annum. About 80% of check forms are returned for more administrative details - leading to a large volume of paperwork and admin (which because of confidential nature can only be dealt with by designated people). The time taken to process checks causes problems for providers and registration officers and can make it very difficult to get new temporary staff cleared (eg for a holiday playscheme).
The Government's committment to Childcare is likely to lead to things getting worse in the short term. An urgent review of Part X of the Children's Act is needed, particularly in relation to registration, inspection, and checking requirements, together with clarification of the role of the CRA in this process. The Partnership will need to consider short=term resoucing of the Inspection Unit and/or BAND to try and deal with the mess.
Further Information & Advice about Child Protection
There are leaflets which provide detailed information about recognising abuse,
your responsibility as a carer and good practice guidance. This leaflet can be obtained
from the Registration and Inspection Unit (see address below) or by asking your
Registration and Inspection Officer or from BAND.
Fair Play for Children have produced an information pack 'Child Protection in a Playwork
Setting'. This practical guide can be obtained direct from Fair Play for Children at a
cost of £7 (for members).
Further advice on obtaining police checks on day care workers and volunteers and on
child protection matters can be obtained from BAND or from: Bristol
Registration and Inspection Unit, 36 Victoria Street, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6BY
Tel: (0117) 983 0440
See also Quality Protects page and Dept of Health Guidance, inc Annex.C.