Criminal checks 'forced' on staff
By Phil Kemp
BBC News
Some public bodies and firms working on government contracts force staff
to submit to criminal records checks, a BBC investigation has found.
The Donal MacIntyre programme on BBC 5Live found the searches were
required even for posts without regular contact with children or
vulnerable adults.
One company said criminal record checks were a condition of some
contracts.
The service which manages criminal records in England and Wales says it
monitors bodies which ask for checks.
For the last four years, Steven Doman has been a part-time administrator
for Pearson VUE, a company which conducts driving theory tests on behalf
of the Driving Standards Agency.
His job involves checking candidates' ID and showing them to the exam
room.
Recently, he was asked to submit to a basic criminal records check and
he refused because he did not want to send off personal information to a
third party, for fear of exposing himself to identity theft.
He has no criminal record.
"I thought this is a bit strong considering the job I've been doing with
this company with no problem at all," he told BBC 5Live.
"I'm actually having to prove my innocence rather than them having to
prove me guilty. And the whole things seems to me to be absolutely
outrageous."
Mr Doman says he offered to pay for his own criminal record check and
said he would share its findings with Pearson VUE but they insisted on
doing it themselves. On Friday he faced a disciplinary hearing.
"I was dismissed with a month's notice but effective immediately and
they said that I should hand my keys in at the earliest opportunity,
told the programme shortly after.
Government guidance
Pearson VUE said it could not discuss individual employees but told the
programme that it has, as a condition of some of its contracts, to
perform criminal records checks on its employees.
Mr Doman believes the contract affecting him is the one his employer has
with the Driving Standards Agency but the agency told BBC 5Live this was
not a condition of their arrangement with Pearson VUE.
In 2006, the Cabinet Office issued guidance to government bodies and
private contractors recommending that they conduct basic checks on all
staff.
The Donal MacIntyre programme has learnt that the Office of Rail
Regulation is also now conducting basic checks on all its staff and
Transport for London is vetting all "customer-facing staff" on London
Underground.
Basic disclosure checks should be voluntary and they can only be
conducted with the individual's consent.
The government has made it clear that employers should not be forcing
workers to hand over details of their criminal convictions.
'Major discrimination'
But people like Mr Doman say they are in an impossible situation
because, although it is supposed to be voluntary, they are finding that
if they refuse, they are out of a job.
"We're fast heading towards a system where we have universal criminal
records checks in place," says Mervyn Barrett from the crime prevention
charity, Nacro
"Inevitably it means there will be discrimination on a major scale."
The Criminal Records Bureau said: "The CRB's first priority is to
protect children and vulnerable adults by helping employers recruit
people into positions of trust.
"The CRB is committed to the continual improvement of its service and we
monitor the performance of registered bodies closely.
"If there is insufficient improvement we will consider sanctions,
including cancelling bodies' registered status."
The Donal MacIntyre programme will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live at
7pm on Sunday 5 October, 2008 or download the programme.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.
Published: 2008/11/16 00:02:22 GMT
Sunday, 16 November 2008
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