FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Thursday, August 17, 2006
CRB Red Tape
As a private piano teacher, offering music tuition to people of any age group, it's important to my business that I am able to prove my suitability to potential customers. For example, people are naturally going to want to know that I have the necessary qualifications and experience to be able to teach them properly and give them the proper level of guidance required. For this I have a certificate on my wall telling all who need to know that I graduated in 2001 with a first class degree in Music with Creative Music Technology from Hull University : this is the evidence I need to show people that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to music.
But, even more important than showing a certification of my level of skill / understanding in music is the need to reassure my students that I am a decent, trustworthy citizen who poses no threat to either themselves or any of their children that they hope will benefit from piano lessons in the near future. The normal way to go about this would be to provide evidence that a recent check (within 2-3 years) has been carried out by the Criminal Records Bureau into my history, proving categorically that I have not had any runnings with the police and that the authorities have no concerns about me. The CRB check is organised by the Criminal Records Bureau in coordination with a number of other agencies (including those dealing with potential acts of terrorism and the registration of sex offenders) and, once all the admin has been carried out, a disclosure is released giving details of their findings. It is a copy of this document that is required by concerned parents or those running organisations that deal with children as proof that a person does not have a questionable past.
Last time a CRB was run on me was when I worked for Education Bradford as a peripatetic music teacher in schools, approximately 3 years ago. Now, as a private, self-employed guitar and piano teacher, I would like the check running again so as to help my customers make an informed decision to hire me to teach their children, knowing 100% that they are not placing their kids into a vulnerable situation. The CRB check is not mandatory for people who choose a career that involves coming into contact with young people but the vast majority of organisations such as schools and youth groups understandably require this to be done on all prospective employees, in the interest of assuring the safety of their clients. I, naively, assumed that the government would consider that the same level of protection is necessary for sole-traders, such as private tutors, as it is for workers in schools etc. But then, while browsing on the internet to organise for this check to be re-run on myself, I came across this document on the Criminal Records Bureau website :
http://www.crb.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=381
In it, the following statement is made :
In other words, the government will not allow a person to get a CRB check run on themselves. Nor will they let a concerned parent run a check on someone they hope to come into contact with their children in the capacity of a teacher or nanny. Thinking that I must have misread this or that I was looking at the wrong section of their website, I phoned up the Criminal Records Bureau who confirmed that they would not run a check on me as a self-employed individual, despite the obvious need for parents to have some way of knowing that they are not inviting a dangerous person into their home, and recommended that I apply for a job with a teaching agency, not with a view to working for them but solely so that that organisation will do the right thing and get me checked out before taking my application any further - a copy of the disclosure form will then be posted to me.
I'm not sure exactly what the government hopes to achieve with this ruling : if it were a matter of maintaining privacy then stopping parents getting checks run themselves on third parties would be understandable but what possible reason could there be for disallowing someone from having a check run on the records that have been collected about them over their lifetime? Surely, the Police realise that there are many self-employed people such as myself whose business it is to come into contact with children. It would seem perfectly right and sensible for a parent to make sure that these people are trustworthy before allowing them access to their young family, so where is the logic in stopping a person making sure that this can be done wholly and transparently, and without the need to make false employment applications to companies who I'm sure could do without the likes of me wasting their time?
But, even more important than showing a certification of my level of skill / understanding in music is the need to reassure my students that I am a decent, trustworthy citizen who poses no threat to either themselves or any of their children that they hope will benefit from piano lessons in the near future. The normal way to go about this would be to provide evidence that a recent check (within 2-3 years) has been carried out by the Criminal Records Bureau into my history, proving categorically that I have not had any runnings with the police and that the authorities have no concerns about me. The CRB check is organised by the Criminal Records Bureau in coordination with a number of other agencies (including those dealing with potential acts of terrorism and the registration of sex offenders) and, once all the admin has been carried out, a disclosure is released giving details of their findings. It is a copy of this document that is required by concerned parents or those running organisations that deal with children as proof that a person does not have a questionable past.
Last time a CRB was run on me was when I worked for Education Bradford as a peripatetic music teacher in schools, approximately 3 years ago. Now, as a private, self-employed guitar and piano teacher, I would like the check running again so as to help my customers make an informed decision to hire me to teach their children, knowing 100% that they are not placing their kids into a vulnerable situation. The CRB check is not mandatory for people who choose a career that involves coming into contact with young people but the vast majority of organisations such as schools and youth groups understandably require this to be done on all prospective employees, in the interest of assuring the safety of their clients. I, naively, assumed that the government would consider that the same level of protection is necessary for sole-traders, such as private tutors, as it is for workers in schools etc. But then, while browsing on the internet to organise for this check to be re-run on myself, I came across this document on the Criminal Records Bureau website :
http://www.crb.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=381
In it, the following statement is made :
The current legislation does not allow the self-employed or individuals to apply for a CRB check on themselves. In addition, parents who employ a nanny/au pair/babysitter directly cannot apply for a CRB check;
In other words, the government will not allow a person to get a CRB check run on themselves. Nor will they let a concerned parent run a check on someone they hope to come into contact with their children in the capacity of a teacher or nanny. Thinking that I must have misread this or that I was looking at the wrong section of their website, I phoned up the Criminal Records Bureau who confirmed that they would not run a check on me as a self-employed individual, despite the obvious need for parents to have some way of knowing that they are not inviting a dangerous person into their home, and recommended that I apply for a job with a teaching agency, not with a view to working for them but solely so that that organisation will do the right thing and get me checked out before taking my application any further - a copy of the disclosure form will then be posted to me.
I'm not sure exactly what the government hopes to achieve with this ruling : if it were a matter of maintaining privacy then stopping parents getting checks run themselves on third parties would be understandable but what possible reason could there be for disallowing someone from having a check run on the records that have been collected about them over their lifetime? Surely, the Police realise that there are many self-employed people such as myself whose business it is to come into contact with children. It would seem perfectly right and sensible for a parent to make sure that these people are trustworthy before allowing them access to their young family, so where is the logic in stopping a person making sure that this can be done wholly and transparently, and without the need to make false employment applications to companies who I'm sure could do without the likes of me wasting their time?
