Record numbers in CRB disputes - Huhne
A record number of people were involved in disputes with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) last year about wrongly being branded a criminal, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.
The figures, revealed in a Parliamentary answer, show:
15,320 people have disputed their criminal records check since the CRB was launched in 2002/03
A record number of people (2,509) were involved in a dispute with the CRB last year (2008/09)
This is more than double the number of disputes in the CRB’s first year of operation (there were 1,111 in 2002/03), though the proportion of disclosures being disputed has fallen
Disclosures can be disputed if your name is the same as a criminal, if inaccurate information is held by the police or if you are the victim of identity fraud.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:
“Criminal records contain such sensitive information that they must be one hundred percent accurate.
“It is just as unfair to label someone a criminal if they are innocent as it is to let an offender slip through the net.
“People will be outraged to be branded a criminal simply because they share a name or have been the victim of identity fraud. It could cost people jobs and ruin lives.
“These disputes do not fill you with confidence that the Government can run the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and check millions more people without making the same mistakes.”
I have been worried about the reliance on CRB checks for a while, and have blogged about this frequently. This research backs up the anecdotal evidence that we’ve gathered on here, where dozens of people have got in touch over problems with their own CRBs. Too often the information is incorrect, disputed or, perhaps most worrying of all, not related to criminal convictions at all but just rumour and hearsay.
Making sure that the public are protected from harm is vital. But as I have frequently said, the rights of everyone need to be balanced. Any system which criminalises the innocent needs to be changed. Any system which is so crucial to people’s employment prospects needs to be totally accurate.
Rick
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I have had a really horrible ordeal with the CRB process. I applied for a CRB for a job and the CRB came back with damming information which was completely inaccurate. I disputed this last December (17th December 08) and to date have not received a reply (13th November 2009_. I keep chasing and in fact spoke to the police myself. I was interviewed and they did not proceed as there was insufficient evidence - at the time I had evidence to prove myself innocent of the charge. The information provided on my CRB was completely different and included a charge I was never even spoken about - fortunately for me I had a job so have been able to work but if I did not I would be bankrupt. It is a cruel unfair process and needs to be changed.