Criminal checks 'forced' on staff

By Phil Kemp
BBC News

Many people working on government contracts must face criminal checks

Some public bodies and firms working on government contracts force staff to submit to criminal records checks, a BBC investigation has found.

The Donal MacIntyre programme on BBC 5Live found the searches were required even for posts without regular contact with children or vulnerable adults.

One company said criminal record checks were a condition of some contracts.

The service which manages criminal records in England and Wales says it monitors bodies which ask for checks.

For the last four years, Steven Doman has been a part-time administrator for Pearson VUE, a global testing company which conducts driving theory tests on behalf of the Driving Standards Agency

His job involves checking candidates' ID and showing them to the exam room.

Recently, he was asked to submit to a basic criminal records check and he refused because he did not want to send off personal information to a third party, for fear of exposing himself to identity theft.

He has no criminal record.

HOW TO LISTEN... The Donal MacIntyre programme is on Radio 5 Live on Sunday, 16 November at 1900 BST. Listen via the BBC iPlayer Subscribe to the podcast

"I thought this is a bit strong considering the job I've been doing with this company with no problem at all," he told BBC 5Live.

"I'm actually having to prove my innocence rather than them having to prove me guilty. And the whole things seems to me to be absolutely outrageous."

Mr Doman says he offered to pay for his own criminal record check and said he would share its findings with Pearson VUE but they insisted on doing it themselves. On Friday he faced a disciplinary hearing.

"I was dismissed with a month's notice but effective immediately and they said that I should hand my keys in at the earliest opportunity," he told the programme shortly after.

Government guidance

Pearson VUE said it could not discuss individual employees but told the programme that it has, as a condition of some of its contracts, to perform criminal records checks on its employees.

It says security is paramount to protect the public by monitoring the integrity of tests and the security of their data.

Mr Doman believes the contract affecting him is the one his employer has with the Driving Standards Agency but the agency told BBC 5Live this was not a condition of their arrangement with Pearson VUE.

In 2006, the Cabinet Office issued guidance to government bodies and private contractors recommending that they conduct basic checks on all staff.

The Donal MacIntyre programme has learnt that the Office of Rail Regulation is also now conducting basic checks on all new staff and Transport for London is vetting all "customer-facing staff" on London Underground.

Basic disclosure checks should be voluntary and they can only be conducted with the individual's consent.

The government has made it clear that employers should not be forcing workers to hand over details of their criminal convictions.

'Major discrimination'

But people like Mr Doman say they are in an impossible situation because, although it is supposed to be voluntary, they are finding that if they refuse, they are out of a job.

"We're fast heading towards a system where we have universal criminal records checks in place," says Mervyn Barrett from the crime prevention charity, Nacro

"Inevitably it means there will be discrimination on a major scale."

The Criminal Records Bureau said: "The CRB's first priority is to protect children and vulnerable adults by helping employers recruit people into positions of trust.

"The CRB is committed to the continual improvement of its service and we monitor the performance of registered bodies closely.

"If there is insufficient improvement we will consider sanctions, including cancelling bodies' registered status."

The Donal MacIntyre programme will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live at 7pm on Sunday 16 November, 2008 or download the programme podcast