Headlines: June 22nd, 2002

The Scottish Criminal Record Office and the Scottish Executive have gone into partnership with BT to develop a major new service which will tell employers whether new recruits have a criminal past.The 120 million pound contract will be run as a public private partnership and will involve the setting up and running of the Disclosure Scotland service.

This will help public sector recruiters in such areas as teaching, nursing, and social work take safer decisions by having available criminal history information on people seeking roles with children and vulnerable adults.

The service will be extended to the general public and corporate sector later this year, enabling would-be employees to show whether or not they have any criminal convictions at the point of being offered a job.

The service allows individuals to apply for certificates which give information about any criminal history, or state there is none.

The contract will operate on a “risk and reward” basis with BT investing more than eight million pounds in the course of the 12-year partnership.

BT will manage the operation of the service, from collecting and processing applications to printing and sending out disclosures, with colleagues at the criminal record office being responsible for completing the relevant criminal history checks, thereby addressing confidentiality and integrity issues of individuals’ backgrounds.

BT also plans to develop a web access service so users may submit applications online.

Link: www.disclosurescotland.org.uk/