New guidance on CRB checks for volunteers available
Howard Lake | 5 June 2008 | News
The Office of the Third Sector has published updated ./guidance to help charities and organisations that use volunteers understand when they do and do not need to carry on Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks on volunteers.
The new ./guidance is designed to “help cut unnecessary red tape”. The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) says that it “responds to concerns voiced by the voluntary sector that potential volunteers can be put off if they are asked to undergo a CRB check without good reason”. Specifically the ./guidance is a response to recommendations put to the Government by Baroness Neuberger, the Government’s Independent Volunteering Champion.
Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, said: “The Government has a duty to protect vulnerable people and CRB checks play an important part in this. However, it is a real waste if volunteers are being put off doing their hugely valuable work because checks are being carried out unnecessarily. Risk has to be managed properly and proportionately and I hope that this ./guidance will help organisations by giving them a clear step by step process to follow.”
The 23-page ./guidance “Criminal Records Bureau checks: Guidance for volunteering” can be downloaded from the OTS’ website:
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/OTS_CRB%20pdf.ashx
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.