Minutes:
The Committee endorsed the undernoted response to the above-mentioned consultation:
“Council Response
Thank you for asking us to respond to the Criminal Records review. The proposals have created much interest especially within our HR Dept, Children and Young People unit and wider Community Services.
Unfortunately, due to the regional and Council elections it was impossible to put your proposals and our analysis to our Committee before the deadline. We are sending these comments in the hope that they may still be useful.
Background Information
BelfastCity Council is a Registered Body which uses AccessNI for Enhanced Disclosures on some staff posts and for volunteers that will work in our directly managed community and play centres with children and vulnerable adults.
We are also registered as an Umbrella Organisation and process Enhanced Disclosure on behalf of community organisations for volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults.
Q10 Balance between public protection and individual rights in the current Disclosure process
The issue appears to be what is regarded as individual rights. The main rationale behind our work is to support children, young people and vulnerable adults. Their needs are paramount and their protection must take priority. Hence their individual rights to attend a service where they will not be potentially harmed has to remain paramount.
There needs to be the mechanism where challenges can be made regarding the information provided. Applicants are able to see the information provided by AccessNI as they receive a copy of the certificate that is provided to the employer.
Within Belfast City Council Community Services, we follow NIACRO guidelines and where there are concerns regarding information about a volunteer, they are offered a meeting to provide further information before a decision is made.
Q11 Criteria for eligibility for AccessNI Disclosures in your sector clear?
As part of our overreaching work with children and young people, we have developed good practice guidelines both for working with children and in the recruitment of volunteers. Our guidelines are based upon best practice and follow guidance outlined through the Children (NI) Order 1995, Volunteer Now and Keeping Safe Child Protection guidelines.
Most of our service would not be considered as a regulated body as we do not provide childcare services. We do provide an extensive range of services for children where they are supported, befriended and supervised. Where the volunteers have responsibility for children in the play setting and would potentially be in a one to one situation, we would seek Enhanced Disclosures prior to working with children.
Q12 Should volunteers be treated differently from paid employees in terms of eligibility for AccessNI disclosures
The community sector is primarily comprised of volunteers who work on a regular basis providing a valuable service for children and vulnerable adults. Many of the community groups are comprised only of volunteers with no paid staff. Their roles and responsibilities would be the same as a paid staff member.
For Community Services, as part of our community development ethos, we actively encourage volunteers to take part in projects and to take on roles of responsibility. This may include taking responsibility for children during a session or out on a trip without a paid member of staff.
Many of services would not be delivered without the support and backup of volunteers who are able to step in to both support and run projects when paid staff have other demands.
Part of the work of Community services is to empower volunteers to run projects that will include work with children or vulnerable adults.
We would therefore argue that volunteers need to be treated the same as paid employees as they will have the same responsibilities.
The suggestion that volunteers may not require checks if they are supervised would be difficult for our organisation. This is because it would place a heavier dependence on existing staff resources to supervise the volunteer and we would be unable to ask the volunteer to take on certain responsibilities. There would also be inconsistencies leading to conflicts if you were to have some volunteers checked and others not.
Q13 Should police intelligence information form part of an AccessNI disclosure
One of the main benefits of the AccessNI was the provision of police intelligence to ensure that, where there were concerns that were non-convictions, that they were prevented from being a potential risk to children and vulnerable adults. It was our understanding that this was brought in following the Ian Huntley case where police intelligence information was not available.
Q14 To what extent should old and minor offences be included in AccessNI disclosures
The question is what criteria will be used in deciding? An organisation should have a consistent policy and practice regarding what convictions will be considered when making a decision. The information regarding decision making should be available to candidates. Therefore candidates will be aware of what will be of concern and that the other offences will be disregarded.
Q15 Should AccessNI disclosures be portable?
The question is to how decisions would be made regarding the suitability of a person to work with children or vulnerable adults. We would welcome the development of a system that would enable disclosures to be portable. This would require a decision making process to be developed to enable consistency across organisations.
Q16 Updating information
The updating of information is a very good idea in that organisations would be aware if there are any new concerns. It would also compliment the portability of AccessNI disclosures and reduce the need for new checks on existing staff or volunteers. One of the main reasons organisations carry out new checks on staff and volunteers is to ascertain if there have been any changes in a person’s information. A robust system would be required that is effective and keeps employers up to date.
Q17 Priorities
1. Continuous updating and Portable disclosure certificates
2. Better integration of international data
3. More relevant and consistent police intelligence
4. Reduced cost / bureaucratic burden
Our list of priorities is based on the following reasons:
1. and 2. would be a joint top priority as they would decrease the number of checks required. They would also ensure information is continually updated to enable organisations to know if there have been any new concerns regarding a person’s background. To support this it would be essential for employers to be able to make ‘on-line’ checks to ensure the certificate is valid.
Q19-22 Criminal Records
Regarding criminal records, there should be no change in the current system in that all convictions should continue to appear on the disclosure form. This provides information regarding the background of a person and potential patterns of re-offending. If an organisation has a robust system for decision making regarding previous criminal records, there is a protection for the potential staff member or volunteer. The system would include confidential storing and shredding of documents.
Q24 Overseas data
An inconsistency with the current system is the difficulty in being able to check people who arrive from outside the UK. The only records available are those relating to the time they have resided in the UK. Therefore this leaves the potential for a person with a history of harm against children or vulnerable adults to work in the UK with these groups. While this is an identified need, we currently do not have views on how best this can be done.”