Criminal Records Bureau frustrates employers

In March of this year the Criminal Records Bureau was formed in order to be able to run background checks on people about to be appointed to jobs working with children or vulnerable adults. Now some three months after its incorporation the service is in crisis, prompting Education Secretary Estelle Morris to complain to her cabinet colleague David Blunkett who is responsible for its performance.

When it was set up, the service promised to turn around 90% of enquiries within 3 weeks. Currently only 20% achieve that target. The completely predictable result is that local authorities and other users of the service have a backlog of potential appointments that they cannot make, which in turn exacerbates staff shortages throughout the education sector.

However frustrating the delays might be, potential employers should resist the temptation to make provisional appointments until references can be cleared. There will be a duty of care owed to pupils and parents as well as vulnerable adults, which is likely to entail the observance of absolute standards. There is little harm in a job offer being conditional on the clearance of these references, but the appointment should not commence.
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