All new staff from 1st April 2002 can only be given an unconditional offer of employment following a satisfactory police check, and satisfactory check of the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults and UKCC registers. (Care Standard 29.3)

Volunteers involved in the care of children are subject to the same checks as those receiving a wage/salary. (Care Standard 29.6)

All staff will be checked through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Under the Regulations of the Care Standards Act .

Disclosures for persons wishing to work with children are subject to extra checks being made against various child protection registers.

NEW........

CRB Fast track - People working with children

Contingency procedure in appointing new staff whose CRB Disclosure checks are delayed

Because of the delays which are being experienced by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in processing Disclosure applications, the CRB has arranged to provide "fast track" PoCA (Protection of Children Act) and List 99 checks for staff newly appointed to work with children since 1 April this year, while their full CRB disclosure results are awaited.

Please note:

This service is only available for staff working with children (which includes those working in any capacity in a children's home)

The new "fast track" contingency checks are a short term interim measure intended to give you the information from the POCA and List 99 checks in advance of the rest of the CRB Disclosure – they do not give you the full CRB disclosure, but enable you to prevent appointing someone who is already debarred from working with children

The service is only available where an Enhanced or Standard Disclosure application has already been applied for, or is being applied for at the same time as the new emergency fast track service (so that a full Disclosure is still provided and subsequently issued)

The service is only available for new staff appointed to work with children since 1 April 2002

The service should only be used where the results of the full Enhanced or Standard Disclosure have not yet been received (the full disclosure will include the POCA and List 99 information as provided by the contingency procedure)

There is no additional charge for this contingency service from CRB

The contingency procedure does not replace the Disclosure service – it gives you part of the disclosure information more rapidly than the rest

You must by law still also apply to CRB for the required Enhanced or Standard Disclosure check on all new staff appointed to work with children

The Children's Homes Regulations (which are law) still require completion of a FULL CRB check before someone starts working in any children's home.

The National Minimum Standards (Standard 27.10) stipulate that anyone being given access to children in a children's home who has not been subject to a completed, satisfactory and full CRB check must not be allowed unsupervised access to the home or the children – therefore any adult in a children's home for whom a FULL CRB disclosure has not been received and proved satisfactory must be kept under a "chaperoning" level of direct supervision at all times.
These fast track contingency arrangements will be in place only until the CRB are able to meet it's target times for issuing Enhanced and Standard Disclosures, which it hopes to be by the end of the summer.

CRB aim to process applications for the additional contingency checks within 5 working days of receiving the request in the vast majority of cases.

A letter has been sent to all children's homes with details of how to apply for fast track Protection of Children Act List and DfES List 99 information. Any children's home needing further information can contact Kelly Salkeld at the National Care Standards Commission (email Kelly.Salkeld@ncsc.gsi.gov.uk telephone 0191 233 3620).

Reminder – new CRB checks are required for all staff of all children's homes

Providers and Managers of children's homes are reminded that they are also required under the Children's Homes Regulations 2001 to apply as soon as possible for full CRB Disclosure checks on all existing staff working in children's homes.

For more information About Fast tracking TEL 0870 243 0608