Criminal Records Bureau - Overview

Overview

The CRB was established under Part V of the Police Act 1997 and was launched in March 2002, following public concern about the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults. It was found that the British police forces did not have adequate capability or resources to routinely process and fulfil the large number of criminal record checks requested in a timely fashion, so a dedicated agency was set up to administer this function.

One of the main reasons for the formation of the Criminal Records Bureau was to reduce the risk of organisations being sued for employing convicted criminals who went on to abuse vulnerable people while in the course of their duty.

An organisation which is entitled to ask exempted questions (under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) must register with the CRB before they can request Disclosure data about an applicant. The individual applies to the CRB with their application countersigned by the organisation. The applicant's criminal record is then accessed from the Police National Computer (PNC), as well as checked, if appropriate, against lists of people considered unsuitable to work with children and vulnerable people maintained by the Independent Safeguarding Authority and others; these include the ISA Children's list, the ISA Adults' list and List 99. Copies of completed disclosures are sent to the applicant and the countersignatory organisation.

Employers and temporary staff agencies have bemoaned the time it takes for a worker to be cleared by the CRB and in an effort to cut waiting times the government allowed the establishment of "ISA Adult First". Registered bodies may check whether an applicant appears on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list through this online checking system, which takes around two working days to turn around. If the check is clean the body may provisionally employ the applicant, subject to an increased level in supervision, until the return by post of the full disclosure.