Taxi and private hire drivers to face enhanced checks – BBC News
‘Taxi and private hire drivers could have to pass enhanced criminal record checks under government proposals.’
BBC News, 12th February 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: vetting
Thousands with minor convictions could be allowed to hide them when applying to work in schools and hospitals after a landmark supreme court ruling – Daily Telegraph
‘Thousands of people with minor or old convictions could be freed from having to declare them to employers in children’s and other services after a landmark supreme court judgement.’
Daily Telegraph, 30th January 2019
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Police launch urgent review of child cadet programmes ‘being abused by officers for sexual purposes’ – The Independent
‘Police forces are launching an urgent review of volunteer cadet programmes amid fears they are being used by paedophiles to gain access to children. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating several police officers who worked with cadet groups – which are for young people aged between 13 and 18 – in London and Manchester, and called for safeguarding checks across England and Wales.’
The Independent, 4th December 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Met police deny looser background checks put people in danger – The Guardian
‘The Metropolitan police have rejected claims that the force put children and vulnerable adults in danger by reportedly relaxing its vetting system for thousands of people.’
The Guardian, 19th August 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Home Office criticised for failures in reforms to criminal records vetting – The Guardian
‘The Home Office has been accused of running a “masterclass in incompetence” over its attempts to improve the criminal records checking scheme.’
The Guardian, 25th May 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Nursery owner Claire Symons employed criminal partner – BBC News
‘A nursery owner employed her partner who had a criminal record for battery and theft, as well as a previous caution for wilful neglect. Claire Symons was given notice her registration is to be cancelled earlier this month after an Ofsted safeguarding investigation.’
BBC News, 13th April 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Child sex offender worked at schools cricket association with ECB permission – The Guardian
‘The England and Wales Cricket Board’s child protection policies are likely to come under close scrutiny after it emerged a convicted child sex offender worked at a schools cricket association with written permission from the ECB – and also attended junior cricket festivals in the company of an ECB executive.’
The Guardian, 24th April 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Safeguarding in Sport – Blackstone Chambers
‘This paper is the first in a series to be published on the Sports Law Bulletin following presentations made at Blackstone Chambers’ Integrity in Sport – the Battleground seminar on 30th March 2017.’
Blackstone Chambers, 5th April
Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org
Sports coach sex loophole must be closed, says NSPCC – BBC News
‘A “loophole” that allows sports coaches to legally have sex with 16 and 17 year olds in their care must be closed by the government, the NSPCC has said.’
BBC News, 26th January 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London criminal check delays a ‘great concern’ as jobs lost – BBC News
‘The speed at which mandatory criminal checks are being completed by the Metropolitan Police is of “great concern”, a government department said.’
BBC News, 14th December 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Criminal record disclosure checks ruled ‘unlawful’ – BBC News
‘Two people who claimed their careers were being blighted by having to disclose their minor criminal convictions to employers have won their case at the High Court.’
BBC News, 22nd January 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Indecent images: is the law out of control? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘On 3rd September 2015 the news reported the case of a 14 year old boy who took a naked photo of himself before sending it to a female classmate via Snapchat (a smartphone application that deletes a message or a photograph 10 seconds after it has been read). She took a screenshot of the photo and decided to send it to other people at school. A police officer based at the school became aware of the photo however. It was decided (obviously correctly) that it was not in the public interest to prosecute. However, he did have “the crime of making and distributing indecent images recorded against him”. It seems that this was a mandatory consequence of it coming to the notice of officialdom.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th September 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Mental health background checks: new guidance issued by Home Office – The Guardian
‘New guidelines to be issued by the Home Office will make clear the factors that must be considered before mental health crises are disclosed in background checks made on people applying to work with vulnerable groups.’
The Guardian, 9th August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
On fairness and principle: the legacy of ZZ re-examined – Michael Rhimes – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Kiani v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 776 (21 July 2015). In my last post on UKHRB I commented on developments in UK, ECHR and EU jurisprudence relating to procedural fairness in the context of national security.
The developments in this recent case offer some further interesting thoughts on the topic.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 6th August 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Disclosure and Barring Service checks: an individual’s rights – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘Another of my articles has considered s56 of the Data Protection Act, which makes it an offence for an employer to compel a current or prospective employee to make a data subject access request. These subject access requests can reveal an individual’s spent criminal convictions as well as other sensitive personal information, and are therefore highly invasive and potentially highly prejudicial to an individual’s employment prospects.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd March 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Landlord Immigration Checks from 1 December – NearlyLegal
‘The Home Office has (finally) announced the ‘pilot’ areas for the landlord immigration check requirement under Immigration Act 2014.’
NearlyLegal, 3rd September 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
UK Supreme Court: forcing disclosure of minor or spent convictions not “necessary or proportionate” – OUT-LAW.com
‘Requiring applicants for those jobs which require enhanced criminal record checks to disclose all spent convictions no matter how historic or minor is an unnecessary and disproportionate interference with their human rights, the UK’s Supreme Court has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 25th June 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Fall in number of offenders barred from working with children – The Guardian
‘The number of people who have committed child sex offences and have been barred from working with children has fallen by nearly 10,000 over the past three years, according to freedom of information disclosures.’
The Guardian, 24th June 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Criminal records scheme incompatible with Convention rights – Supreme Court judgment – Panopticon
‘As readers of this blog will know, the application of the Government’s criminal records scheme has been subject to extensive litigation of late (see further not least my post on an appeal involving a teacher and my post on an appeal involving a taxi-driver). Perhaps most importantly, in the case of T & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department, questions have been raised about whether the scheme as a whole is compatible with Convention rights and, in particular, the Article 8 right to privacy. Last year, the Court of Appeal concluded that the scheme was incompatible. In a judgment given yesterday, the majority of the Supreme Court has agreed with that conclusion (Lord Wilson dissenting).’
Panopticon, 19th June 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
