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CRB checks and criminal convictions policy

1 Scope and Purpose

1.1 This document outlines UCL's policy on the use of criminal record checks and recruitment of staff or volunteers with criminal convictions or those who are barred from working with children or vulnerable adults. For student requirements on CRB checks and criminal convictions see the Student Recruitment and Admissions procedure.

1.2 This policy applies to all staff and will be made available (see 5) to applicants at the outset of the recruitment process where a CRB request for disclosure of their criminal record will be required as part of the application process.

1.3 This policy refers to children and vulnerable adults. A child is anybody under the age of 18. A vulnerable adult is a person aged 18 years or over who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or maybe unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation. See the Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults guidelines for a full definition.

2 Disclosure of criminal convictions

2.1 It is UCL policy to require applicants to disclose any 'unspent' criminal convictions as part of their application. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 ex-offenders are not required to disclose to prospective employers, convictions defined as 'spent' under the Act. However certain posts, particularly those working with children, vulnerable adults or in positions of trust or sensitive areas are exempt from these provisions, and in these cases all convictions must be declared and CRB clearance obtained prior to starting employment.

2.2 UCL will not discriminate unfairly against applicants with a criminal record. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar an applicant from working for UCL; the nature of a disclosed conviction and its relevance to the post in question will be considered. This is with the exception of; a person who has unspent convictions for violence, assault or damage to property, which are likely to be incompatible with working for UCL or; a person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults. It is a criminal offence to employ a person in a 'regulated position' (see 4) where they have been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults.

2.3 Where a conviction has been disclosed in an individual's application for a post at UCL, a discussion will take place at the end of the interview regarding the offence and its relevance to the position. Failure to reveal information relating to unspent convictions will lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment, or termination of employment.

2.4 All staff are required to disclose criminal convictions acquired during employment at UCL which may be relevant to their position or that related to violence, assault or damage to property. Disclosure is to be made confidentially to HR Consultancy who will consider the effect of the offence on the employee's post. Examples of convictions relevant to positions include a driving offence for a driver position, theft or fraud for a finance position and convictions relating to children/ vulnerable adults if working in regulated or controlled activity. Disclosures relating to children/ vulnerable adults will be referred to a UCL Safeguarding Contact who will consider whether a referral to the Independent Safeguarding Authority is necessary – see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/working_with_children.php#examples

3 Criminal Records Bureau

3.1 UCL uses the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosure Service to obtain information to enable it to assess the suitability of applicants for employment for posts working with children, vulnerable adults or in positions of trust.

3.2 The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) are bodies under the national Vetting and Barring Scheme who make decisions about those that should be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

3.3 UCL complies with the CRB code of practice including the secure storage, handling, use, retention & disposal of CRB disclosures and disclosure information and with its obligations under the Data Protection Act.

Storage & Access

3.4 CRB disclosure information will not be stored on an employee's personnel file but will be stored separately in lockable storage with access limited to those who are entitled to see it as part of their duties. A record will be maintained of all those to whom disclosure information has been revealed as it is a criminal offence to pass this information to anyone who is not entitled to receive it.

Usage

3.5 CRB disclosure information will only be used for the specific purpose for which it was requested and for which the applicant's full consent will have been obtained.

Retention

3.6 Once a recruitment (or other relevant) decision has been made, CRB disclosure information will not be stored for longer than is necessary. This is generally for a period of up to six months to allow for consideration and resolution of any disputes or complaints. If, in exceptional circumstances, it is considered necessary to keep such information for longer than six months, consideration will be given to the Data Protection rights of the individual.

Disposal

3.7 Once the retention period has elapsed, UCL will ensure that any CRB disclosure information is destroyed and while awaiting destruction, CRB disclosure information will be kept securely. A record of the date of issue of a disclosure, the name of the subject, the type of disclosure requested, the position for which the disclosure was requested, the unique reference number of the disclosure and the details of the recruitment decision taken, will however be securely stored for monitoring purposes.

4 Appointments requiring a CRB disclosure

4.1 An appointee will be required to submit an enhanced CRB disclosure request where s/he will be working in 'controlled' or 'regulated' activity with children or vulnerable adults as defined by the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

'Controlled' Activity
Controlled activity is activity that does not necessarily involve closely working with children or vulnerable adults, but that still provides opportunities for contact with them on a frequent, intensive or overnight basis (see frequency definition below). This includes:

Frequent or intensive support work (e.g. cleaners, caretakers, receptionists) in social care settings and where children or vulnerable adults are being cared for in hospitals, primary care and further education.
Access to sensitive education, health, or social services records e.g. Researchers who have indirect contact (e.g. telephone interviews) with patients/service users and access to identifiable patient data derived from health records, tissues or organs which may or may not have impact on prevention, diagnosis or treatment.

'Regulated' Activity

Regulated activity covers anyone working closely or certain situations where individuals have the opportunity to have contact with children or vulnerable adults, either paid or unpaid on a frequent, intensive or overnight basis (see frequency definition below).

Any activity of a specified nature i.e. teaching, training or instruction; care or supervision; advice or guidance; treatment or therapy; moderating an internet chat room aimed at children or vulnerable adults; or certain forms of transport being used only for the purpose of conveying children or vulnerable adults and their carers.
Any activity in a specified place i.e. schools (including six-form colleges); nurseries; children's hospitals; youth detention facilities; children's homes; childcare facilities; and adult care homes.
Fostering and childcare services
Any activity that involves people in certain defined positions of responsibility in the children's workforce (e.g. school governor, director of social services and trustees of children's charities) or the vulnerable adults' workforce (e.g. director of adult social services, members of relevant local government bodies).

'Frequency'

'Frequent' is once a week or more on an ongoing basis. 'Intensive' is four or more times in a single month or overnight (between 2am and 6am). In health and personal care services, frequent is once a month or more.

Frequent and intensive activity only applies where they take place in a single specified setting e.g. visits to the same school. If activity is in a number of 'specified settings' (such as schools), but is infrequently in each, a CRB check will not be required even if the totality of work carried out in the various settings is frequent or intensive. For maintenance workers in health settings, they will not be conducting regulated activity if they work more than once a month in health care settings when visiting different health or childrens' homes.

For further details of regulated activity including examples in Higher Education see appendix A.

5 Process

5.1 If the department considers that a position meets the controlled or regulated activity definition and requires a CRB check, they must ensure applicants are aware that a CRB disclosure is required as part of the application process and arrange for a CRB check at the appropriate stage.

5.2 When submitting an advert via ROME, the department should select the appropriate option to indicate that the post requires CRB disclosure. The advert will contain a statement to this effect and the department must ensure that the advert further particulars reflects this and includes a link to this policy.

5.3 When an appointee has been selected and a contract request is submitted via SiP, the department must indicate that the appointment is subject to CRB clearance and the contract will be issued with a clause to this effect.

5.4 UCL, in accordance with CRB guidelines, does not accept portability of CRB checks which individuals may have from previous organisations as proof of satisfactory clearance.

5.5 The department must request a CRB disclosure form from HR Consultancy as soon as the offer is made to the individual. The CRB form is to be completed by the individual, identity checks verified by the department and returned to HR Consultancy for countersignature. Members of the transgender community may contact the CRB for a sensitive check which does not reveal their gender identity history. All subjects of a CRB disclosure request will be made aware of the CRB Code of Practice.

Honorary appointments requiring CRB disclosure

5.6 Responsibility for conducting CRB checks for honorary staff will depend on whether the individual will be conducting controlled or regulated activity:

Work context	Responsibility for CRB check
An employee has a substantive UCL contract and will be conducting controlled/ regulated activity in UCL and another organisation under an honorary appointment	UCL must conduct the CRB check.
An employee has a substantive UCL contract but will only be conducting controlled/ regulated activity as part of an honorary appointment with another organisation	Honorary organisation will be required to do the CRB check
Where an individual has honorary status with UCL and will be conducting regulated activity here	UCL must conduct the CRB check

5.7 Where UCL does not have responsibility for conducting the CRB check because the regulated activity is not being undertaken in UCL, the individual may start work at UCL without confirmation of this check.

5.8 Research Passports

Where the employee is applying for a Research Passport which entails controlled or regulated activity at UCL and or other organisations, UCL must conduct the CRB check – see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/passport.php.

HR Policy and Planning
Updated August 2010

Appendix A – Regulated Activity
Specified nature - examples
Regulated activity includes, but is not limited to the examples below. Services aimed at the general public (e.g. hobby societies) but where children/ vulnerable adults may attend, are not considered regulated activity.

Teaching, training or instruction, supervising, caring
Examples include: private tutors, teachers, care workers, speech therapists and youth workers. Wardens are likely to be supervising or caring where there are students under 18 or vulnerable adults living in student residencies.

Advice or guidance for children, and advice, guidance or assistance for vulnerable adults
For children this includes advice or guidance which relates to their physical, emotional or educational wellbeing e.g. children's mentors, counsellors, children's career advisors including members of Outreach providing advice to children at the same schools/ colleges. For vulnerable adults this includes healthcare advice given to patients and assistance targeted at vulnerable adults. Staff or volunteers who visit the homes of vulnerable adults on a frequent or intensive basis will be conducting regulated activity.

Healthcare treatment or therapy provided to a child or a vulnerable adult
This includes healthcare professionals, therapists, healthcare assistants, in both hospitals and community settings.

Students with placements in regulated activity
Students will be conducting regulated activity where they have placements in workplaces arranged by UCL for courses leading to employment as teachers, social workers, youth workers, counsellors, doctors and allied health professions.

Research
Staff or students who may interact with vulnerable groups through their academic research may count as regulated activity. An interview with a child, or an experiment to test a child's response to some stimulus, outside a school setting, is not in itself regulated activity. If there is a carer present, the academic is not providing care or supervision and is not therefore carrying out regulated activity. Research with a sick or disabled adult is only regulated activity if there is treatment, care, supervision, assistance or advice relating to the sickness or disability: if the researcher was a health professional, he or she would carry out regulated activity anyway.

Specified place
In some specified settings, regulated activity includes anyone whose work gives them the opportunity for contact with children or vulnerable adults, regardless of whether this meets the 'specified nature' description. For example, this will include catering, cleaning, administrative and maintenance workers or contractors if they meet the frequency test. Specified places include:

schools (educational institutions exclusively or mainly for the provision of full-time education to under-18s)
children's homes
childcare premises (including nurseries)
pupil referral units (short stay schools).
children's hospitals (hospitals exclusively or mainly for the reception and treatment of children)
institutions exclusively or mainly for the detention of children
children's centres in England, and
adult care homes

Exemptions from regulated activity

Under-18s in higher education
Teaching, training and instruction or care and supervision of under-18s in higher education will not be required to have CRB checks. The exemption in relation to under-16s will only come into effect when the department has undertaken a risk assessment and put in place suitable arrangements in the light of the result of the risk assessment e.g. restriction of one-to-one contact with the child.

Students aged 18 or over who work with students under 18
The 'peer exemption' applies to students aged 18 or over and they will not carry out regulated activity if they live and work alongside younger students. However students over 18 working with students under 18 will still need to comply with UCL Safeguarding policies (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/staff_info/safeguarding ).

Children and young people in the workplace
Teaching and training, care and supervision, advice and guidance and medical treatment provided as part of a 16 or 17 year-old's employment (which may be part of their learning or in a work experience situation) is not regulated activity if carried out by a person for whom arrangements do not exist principally for that purpose. In the case of work experience, a CRB check will only be required if an employee's specific job purpose includes looking after under-16 work experience students - see the Work Experience Policy

Activity with children which is merely incidental to activity with adults

Where teaching, training or instruction or care or supervision of children is merely incidental to the function of a role because the children are part of a mixed-age group and their involvement is incidental to the purposes of the activity, this is not regulated activity.
To be considered 'incidental', the activity should be designed and provided for adults, and the presence of a child or children must either be unforeseen or be dependent on the presence of the adult.

Activity with vulnerable adults which is wholly or mainly for them
The 'merely incidental' rule does not apply to vulnerable adults. Here, the rule is simply that, for teaching, training and instruction to be regulated activity, it has to be provided wholly or mainly for vulnerable adults.

Porters/security guards
Porters/security guards in halls of residence or other HE premises: if care or supervision of students is not in their role description, they are not carrying out regulated activity and CRB checks will not be required. Deterrence of intruders, protection of property and portering are unlikely to constitute care or supervision of those authorised to be in the premises.

Ancillary first aid
First aid provided by an employee as an ancillary part of their job is not regulated activity.

Regulated activity carried out by visitors in relation to visiting children or vulnerable adults

There is an exemption of regulated activity undertaken by visitors from outside England, Wales or Northern Ireland for up to three months with children or vulnerable adults also from outside England, Wales or Northern Ireland e.g. summer camps where the children reside at UCL residencies.