To obtain a CRB disclosure of Standard or Enhanced level there must always be a third party involved who is offering the applicant a role - be it paid or voluntary - that is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) as specified in the Exceptions Order 1975. Further to this, the third party must be in a position to deny the role subject to the content of the Disclosure, if they do not consider it to be satisfactory given their area of practice.
This excludes the self-employed from checking themselves, as does the requirement that the subject and requester be different people.
Should an organisation receive Disclosure information for a role that is not exempted from the ROA they may leave themselves open to legal action. If the Disclosure reveals information that the employer / prospective employer is not entitled to know the employee / prospective employee is legally entitled to sue them should they lose or be denied the role. Further to this, if the employer allows someone to maintain or take on a role despite their knowledge of such convictions, and a related incident occurs the employer can be sued by the victim for placing somebody with a known history of such offences in that role.
Given this, unless a role is eligible for a Disclosure, it is best not to ask for one.
Unfortunately some employers are not yet familiar with the new Disclosure Service and understand it to work in the same way as the old "Police Check", which somebody could obtain at their own request. However, the Police Check is issued under the Data Protection Act, and is only meant to be seen by the subject. Employers have no legal right to see Police Checks as they may contain information that they are not entitled to know, such as information about spent convictions. Further to this, police checks will not include information from the POVA or POCAL lists, which is required for roles involving working with children or vulnerable adults.
Given all of this, a Disclosure can only be applied for by an individual at the request of an employer / prospective employer or regulator, and for the higher level of Disclosures the employer / prospective employer must be a Registered Body or use the services of a Registered Umbrella Body.
Diva Care Ltd is such an Umbrella Body and our contract would be with the employer / prospective employer or regulator, not the applicant. Who pays for the Disclosure is a matter to be agreed between the subject and the employer / prospective employer.
The organisation asking you to obtain a Disclosure can register with Diva Care Ltd for free and you can still pay for the Disclosure (if that is the preferred arrangement). Provided that the role involved is eligible for Disclosure we will be able to process the application on their behalf.
If you require a Disclosure for your Personal Liquor Licence, you require only a Basic Disclosure. These are issued by Disclosure Scotland only for the whole of the UK. These can be applied for without the need for a Registered or Umbrella Body to countersign the application.
Disclosure Scotland can be contacted on – 0870 609 6006
