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A lot of the basic information
regarding the BJA and CRB disclosures can be found on the following
web page.
http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/policy/childprotection/procedures.php
These FAQ's will try
and cover some of the most common questions asked by members.
What
information will show on a CRB Disclosure Certificate?
The BJA carries out
only Enhanced level CRB Disclosures so all convictions
including those considered spent will appear on the Disclosure
Certificate.
This level of check
involves an additional level of check to those carried out for
the Standard CRB check - a check on local police records.
Where local police records contain additional information that
may be relevant to the post the applicant is being considered
for, the Chief Officer of police may release information for inclusion
in an Enhanced check. Exceptionally, and in a very small
number of circumstances (typically to protect the integrity of
current police investigations), additional information may be
sent under separate cover to the Counter signatory and should
not be revealed to the applicant.
Who
in the BJA sees the Disclosure Certificates?
At present 99% are seen
by Claire Newman (Deputy Head of Member Services) in the event
of a positive Disclosure the certificate is seen by the Child
Protection Working Party – Currently Mark Beecher, Keith Eldridge
and Julie Moores.
Will
a Criminal Conviction prohibit me from working within Judo?
The short answer is
not necessarily; every single case is looked at individually.
Please see the BJA recruitment of ex-offenders policy.
Why
cant I send photocopies of my documents?
We are sure you will
appreciate the integrity of the whole CRB process relies on the
document checking. It is impossible to see from photocopies whether
a document has been tampered with or forged.
I
don’t want to trust my document to the post, how can I get my
documents verified?
The BJA has a list of
some 30+ CRB responsible officials based all over England. These
officials have been CRB checked and have received an induction
into completing the ID document checks.
They attend many judo
events and are more than happy to complete your CRB application
at any of the events that they attend.
We are for the next
round of CRB checks arranging to send BJA staff to meet with large
numbers of members in one go to ease the process. Details
of these events will be on the BJA Calendar.
Have
any documents every been lost?
The BJA has completed
over 1200 checks in that time one passport has been lost which
the Royal Mail admitted to loosing and paid compensation to the
passport holder.
How
do I become a BJA CRB Responsible Official?
For quality control
we intend to keep the number to around 40 maximum. These numbers
tend to be weighted in areas where we have the highest concentration
of members.
To be considered as
a BJA CRB Official you have to have had a close professional relationship
with the BJA Lead Signatory for at least 5 years and be considered
responsible and diligent.
The Lead Signatory (currently Julie Moores)
is personally responsible for all applications
submitted to the CRB from the BJA. Even should she leave she will
still be responsible for any errors that occurred and later came
to light during her period as BJA Lead Signatory. As you
can imagine with this level of personal responsibility the Lead
Signatory has to be 100% confident in the integrity and ability
of the BJA CRB Responsible Officials.
Can
I use a Disclosure Certificate issued by another body?
Currently the answer
is it depends on the body and the age of the disclosure. If your
Disclosure is from a body with similar aims and ideals as the
BJA i.e.: Scout movement, other Sports NGB , is an Enhanced Disclosure
and is less than 6 months old the most likely answer is yes.
HOWEVER latest guidance
from the CRB itself on portability of Disclosures strongly recommends
that bodies do not except previously issued certificates. As such
from 1 September 2006 the BJA will no longer be accepting Disclosure
Certificates from other bodies.
Briefly the main reasons
for this are:
- The BJA has no knowledge of the integrity of the document
checking of other bodies. A lot can be assumed from the type
of body but its not guaranteed.
- The CRB certificate is a picture of the holders Criminal Record
at the time it was issued. As it gets older new convictions
could have been added which are not shown on the certificate
but which would appear on any fresh check.
- When a request for Disclosure is received by the local police
force it is the decision of the Chief Inspector of that force
on whether soft intelligence on an individual is given.
The police force looks
at what organization is applying for disclosure and critically
the position applied for. They then weigh up whether the intelligence
they have should be passed to the organisation.
Example:
A plumber
applies for a job doing maintenance for a housing association.
The plumber will have access to homes of primary elderly residents.
The job carries no contact with children nor working in schools
or children’s homes.
An Enhanced
CRB Disclosure comes back with nothing to report.
However later
the same plumber applies to become a sports coach with extensive
contact with children and young adults.
The plumbers
local police on receiving the request for a Disclosure from
the Sports Governing Body may decide to release the fact that
this individual has been in court on more than one occasion
for alleged offences against children . The outcome of
the cases may well have been not guilty, not proven, or indeed
the Crown Prosecution Service may have decided that the cases
did not meet its minimum threshold of evidence needed to take
the case to trial. However this information would certainly
make the NGB in this example carry out a thorough risk assessment
on the individual.
The above is completely
hypothetical and the police make decisions on what information
to provide on a case-by-case basis in this example they may
have made the decision to give the Housing Association all the
intelligence. What we hope is that this small example
gives an insight into the risks involved in accepting a disclosure
from another organisation.
There are many changes
in the pipeline to the Disclosure process following the Bichard
Enquiry which should help streamline and make more efficient use
of IT to help cut down the number of repeat disclosures which
individuals need to complete.
More detailed information
on the Bichard Enquiry can be found at the link below.
http://www.bichardinquiry.org.uk/
When
do I have to get my disclosure completed by?
You really need to respond
to the first request to complete a disclosure you receive from
head office.
Currently (as of 26
May 2006) we have 768 people who are on anything from their 2nd
to their 4th request.
Those that are on the
4th request will be receiving a phone call and a letter will sent
to their club. This really does add to our overheads and staff
time to process the check.
Any coach not having
completed a check by 1 September 2006 will have their coach award
withdrawn until a CRB check is completed.
How
long are Disclosure Certificates valid for?
Disclosure certificates
are a snapshot of the persons record at the time they are issued.
Therefore they have no formal period of validity.
The BJA aims to check
volunteers every 3-5 years and staff that have extensive contact
with children every 12-18 months.
Why
does my birth certificate have to be dated within 12 months of
my birth to be used as ID for the CRB check?
Anyone can obtain a
copy of anyone else’s birth certificate – on application and payment
of appropriate fee. So to satisfy the strict standards for ID
checking for CRB disclosure you have to submit your original birth
certificate.
What
documents can I use for me Disclosure application?
A full list is available
within the disclosure handbook at the link below
http://www.disclosure.gov.uk/PDF/CRB11.pdf
How much does
a CRB check cost?
The CRB will issue a
Disclosure “free of charge” if the person for whom a Disclosure
is required satisfies the following criteria:
‘ a volunteer is person
who is engaged in any activity which involves spending time, unpaid
(except for travelling and other approved out-of-pocket expenses),
doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or
groups) other than or in addition to close relatives’ .
Enhanced checks for
non-volunteers cost £36.00.
I
am only a club Chairman/Official do I need to complete a Disclosure?
The BJA requires that
any person holding a position of authority within the BJA or a
BJA Club completes a Disclosure.
There have been cases
where such officials have used their position to engineer or manipulate
situations in which they can gain access to children and vulnerable
adults.
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