Barrister David Renton: CRB checks could damage career

Published: 26 February 2010
by PETER GRUNER

MINOR cautions and convictions which show up on Criminal Record Bureau checks could stop people getting jobs – or even result in sackings – a leading advice lawyer warned this week.

Barrister David Renton was talking about the dangers of insisting on CRB checks for all workers who might come into contact with children or vulnerable people.

Mr Renton, who works for Islington Law Centre in Hornsey Road, Holloway, spoke out following calls for builders contracted to Homes for Islington – the borough’s housing agency – to be CRB-checked before being allowed to work in homes.

He warned: “You could have a conviction for shoplifting, for example, which got you a slapped wrist and a conditional discharge. But the police will often include it on your CRB information.”

He advised those who fear they may be being turned down for jobs because of a CRB check to find out what is being said about them, using the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Renton is concerned about the Home Office’s new Independent Safeguarding Authority, introduced later this year. All 300,000 school governors, as well as every doctor, nurse, teacher, dentist and prison officer, will have to register.

Mr Renton said: “The checks are all being done behind closed doors.
“Mistakes and abuses of the system are bound to happen. People who have worked in the same job for 30 years may suddenly find that they can no longer work in that field again.”