Cornwall Council has stopped processing CRB checks for outside organisations including KEAP. Therefore KEAP is outlining a way forward for those organisations and freelance artists for which it processed checks.
When is a CRB check required?
A CRB check is required when someone is working frequently or intensively with children or vulnerable adults. This is defined as once per week, or 4 days in any month. This means that a one off workshop should not require a CRB check, though we know in practice that many schools ask for one anyway.
CRB checks are not portable between employers, so any new employee who meets the above criteria should have a new CRB check for each employer.
Working in Cornish Schools
For all Cornish schools (except private schools), and some youth centres and early years settings, Cornwall Council is the employer. Therefore, a CRB check done by one Cornish school is portable to any other Cornish school. If a school will not accept a CRB check from another school, they should contact the HR Safeguarding Team at Cornwall Council to discuss this. 01872 324130 or HRSafeguardingTeam@cornwall.gov.uk
The above statement outlining when a CRB check is required and working in Cornish schools has been agreed to be correct by HR Safeguarding at Cornwall Council.
SafeChild
KEAP will now be using an organisation called SafeChild to process its CRB checks. If you are a self employed artist, you can still get your CRB check through KEAP.
If you are an organisation which employs 2 or more people on a permanent/managerial basis, we suggest you get your CRB checks done directly though SafeChild. Your organisation needs to employ 2 or more people because if a CRB check comes back positive, SafeChild need to contact another person in the organisation.
The costs of Enhanced CRB checks through SafeChild are £46 which is less than the cost through Cornwall Council. An organisation simply registers with SafeChild, and buys CRB checks whenever they need them. The team at SafeChild are extremely helpful and can answer any questions you have.
Also check the SafeChild website for more details on how they process CRB checks. www.safechild.co.uk
For answers to FAQ’s about CRB checks go to http://www.safechild.co.uk/SAFE/page?PAGE=CRBChecksFAQ