Concerned Voluntary Youth Charities Brief MPs
23rd June 1999
Representatives of voluntary sector youth charities briefed MPs at Westminster today (23 June, 1999) over their concerns arising from Government proposals to make a £10 charge for Criminal Record Checks on people offering to work closely with children.
The briefing was organised by The Scout Association working in conjunction with the All Party Scout group of Members of Parliament who take a special interest in Scouting. Other youth charities involved included National Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Amateur Swimming Association and the Board of Education of The Church of England.
Introducing the discussion, Derek Twine, Chief Executive of The Scout Association, explained that all responsible youth organisations welcome arrangements for improving the chances of keeping young people safe from harm and the availability of information which will protect the vulnerable.
"What we do not welcome is that volunteers should be charged, either personally and directly at £10 when they volunteer, or as a central charge on the voluntary organisations or agency they choose to help as a volunteer.
The £10 would be required at the very point of trying to recruit the volunteer, the moment of motivating them to give their time freely to help with the charitable works. Volunteer recruitment is challenging enough without imposing the disincentive of a £10 joining fee," he explained.
Each year The Scout Association alone vets 65,000 adults, each of who have "substantial unsupervised access" to young people. The includes confirming the veracity of local references, an interview for suitability and a series checks of Scouting's own extensive national records (which are UK-wide) as well as reports from newspapers and the Department for Education and Employment's List 99.
The process already costs Scouting well-over £100,000 each year. To add the £10 charge for each of those 65,000 checks, plus all the inevitable associated administration, will require a further £750,000 each year, every year. The impact of an additional three-quarters-of-a-million pounds of expenses poses potential major cuts in services for young people. This comes especially at a time when recruitment and services are needed to support programmes to increase social inclusion.
The other charities at the briefing, and many others like them, face similar financial difficulties. It has been argued that providing free checks would be an unsustainable burden on the public purse. If the costs are seen as unsustainable by Government, then it is hard to see how they could be sustainable by a charitable voluntary organisation.
Note to Editors
Criminal Records Bureau
The CRB will be based in Liverpool, operated under the same administration as the Passport Office. It will open in 2001, in only 18 months time, and it will employ up to 1,200 people.
It is being proposed that the CRB will provide three different types of order:
A Criminal Convictions Certificate which an individual could choose to show an employer. It will show all convictions not spent but will not show spent convictions or cautions.
A Criminal Records Certificate which will be required for all those who have regular contact with under 18 year olds, the elderly, the sick or those in sensitive professions. This will show all convictions and cautions, even those spent.
An Enhanced Criminal Records Certificate required for those who have regular care of under 18 year olds and in sensitive appointments. It will show all spent and unspent convictions and cautions as well as information from police files including any suspicions.
When an adult indicates an interest in working with young people, an application will be made to the CRB to see if there is any record indicating unsuitability.
For further information contact: Public Relations (public.relations@scout.org.uk)
