Voluntary organisations lack confidence in Criminal Records Bureau

Howard Lake | 15 January 2003 | News

According to a report from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the difficulties and cost of accessing criminal records checks experienced by voluntary organisations has left them with little confidence in the troubled Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

NCVO’s survey of voluntary organisations, found that five out of ten respondents rated the new criminal records checks system as ‘very poor’. The most common complaints were costs

of volunteer checks of up to £15 and delays and mistakes by the CRB, the new agency responsible for issuing criminal record checks.

The current charges are the result of the CRB’s failure to cover registered umbrella bodies’ administration costs. Organisations have to go through one of these registered bodies or register themselves in order to access the

checks. Published this week, NCVO’s CRB consultation report recommends that the Government provide proper funding for a network of these registered umbrella bodies. The report suggests that more Local Authorities could act as umbrellas themselves for charities and community groups operating in

their area.

“Voluntary organisations have an extreme lack of confidence in the CRB,” said Campbell Robb, Director of Public Policy at NCVO. “Despite the Government’s promises, in reality volunteers’ checks are not free and many organisations cannot even locate an affordable registered umbrella body in their area. These difficulties may be deterring potential volunteers from engaging in voluntary work altogether. The Government cannot afford to ignore this new evidence of the CRB’s problems.”

The survey was conducted online and there were 110

respondents: 33 were national organisations, 58 local. NCVO’s online consultation on the Criminal Records Bureau ran from 9 July 2002 to 31 December 2002.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.