One in Seventeen

Figures published in February by Big Brother Watch expose the astonishing fact that during 2011  2,981,958 CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks were made by 3,924 registered bodies.

That’s a staggering 1 in 17 of the British population undergoing the check. One company, Atlantic Data, carried out more than 180,000 checks alone.  Essex County Council commissioned 21,908 checks, the highest result for a local authority.

The vast number of organisations with access to the system means it is easier than ever to jump into the data and rummage around for details of an individual’s private life. Shockingly, they don’t even need to tell the person concerned when they run a CRB check on their background.

CRB checks are supposed to protect children from coming into contact with dangerous adults. In reality, what happens is that someone with a caution or a conviction completely unrelated to children can end up being labelled as a dangerous criminal simply on the basis of a CRB check.

So a minor teenage drunk indiscretion might lead to you losing your job ten years later because you need to pass a CRB check when you come into contact with children. You might be a father; you might have done the job perfectly beforehand. But the CRB will still label you in the worst possible light.

Big Brother Watch has previously unveiled the inaccuracies and inefficiencies of the CRB system.  Confusing the details of one person with another is a roadmap to disaster and one that is increasingly likely to be followed when CRB checks reach the scale they have done suggested by these figures.

In fact,  a High Court Judge came out against the current use of CRB. Mr Justice Kenneth Parker argued that the ‘present system’ was ‘disproportionate’  and incompatible with the right to a private life within the ECHR.

It is extremely worrying that these figures demonstrate the extent to which Britain is slipping into a culture of suspicion and overreaction, with the kneejerk reaction being to peek around in someone’s past.  We urgently need a return to basics and the reform of an intrusive and heavy handed system.

Source: Big Brother Watch