Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 20 January 2006. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 March 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Child Protection

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what types of services provided by the NHS are required to make checks against the Protection of Children Act list of the people employed in them.

Answer: Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are mandatory throughout the national health service for all eligible new staff. Eligible staff means all staff with access to patients in the normal course of duties. Employers are required to request the CRB to carry out an additional check against List 99 and the Protection of Children Act (POCA) list of persons barred from working with children, specifically for staff applying to work in posts subject to the POCA definition of working with children, as amended by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.

Secondary information