CRB checks for parent helpers query

[BendyBob]

The form asks for a reference. How important a part of the CRB process are references and are the school obliged to take them up as part of the initial CRB check?

I was given CRB clearance for a school activity and the school have now realised (their error) 7 months later that they should have taken up the ref I gave them too. I was happy to be CRB'd and gave them everything required at the time including a contact for a ref.

The activity I helped with was last April but they want refs now in retrospect which seems merely a box ticking exercise and ridiculous.

I have nothing to hide and can supply anything that may be required, but it seems to me that the 'check' they did at the time was worryingly lax to say the least and I am concerned about how thorough they are actually being wrt CRB checks generally.

How thorough are schools expected to be? I always thought they were supposed to be quite hot about it and rightly so, but it seems not.

If information about you is limited then a reference can be valuable. It sounds as if the school needs a tick in a box for OFSTED.

I don't think it is lax -you must have satisfied all the questions without the need for other references.

With a CRB, the only thing that really matters is whether you have criminal convictions or have been interviewed over criminal matters.

Are you sure it's the school? In our area it's the LEA who chase up CRB checks, we just have to make sure that we actually see the CRB.

References are separate from the CRB check. The school or LA (whoever is conducting the check) is not under any obligation to take up references as part of a CRB check. However, anyone using the CRB is advised that they should not use it as their only safeguard and that it is good practise to conduct some kind of interview and take up references. This is not compulsory but, when I was involved with voluntary youth organisations, it was very strongly recommended.

So the school has not fallen down on the CRB process as such. However, they should have taken up your references.

Thanks so much for replies.

Yes, the request for the ref has come from the school. They say they were 'supposed to have taken up two references' and so can they have them now. Could be that the LEA have picked them up on it I guess.

I suppose find it odd that as it is a relevant part of the process and asked for on the form it has been disregarded until months and months later. I wonder why they weren't more thorough at the time.

I was sent my certificate no problem.

Just to be clear, a reference is not part of the CRB process and applicants are supposed to leave that part of the CRB form blank. The CRB couldn't care less whether or not references are sought and taken up. However, it is good practise to do so.

So what is happening here with the school asking for references is completely separate from the CRB check.

Being pedantic, what you received is your copy of the disclosure. Its purpose is to allow you to check that the information is correct. It is not a certificate to say you passed your CRB check as the LA may have been given additional information which does not appear on your copy, although that is unlikely.

I would also add that if this was for a one-off activity helping at the school when other school staff were present, then there was actually no requirement for you to have a CRB check.
You only require a CRB check if you are helping on a regular basis at the school, with regular being defined as at least once a month. It certainly from your posts does not sound like that is the case.
Obviously the school has decided that they need to go further than the law requires with regard to volunteers and that is their perogative but not sure it was really necessary.