Written question asked by Lord Lexden (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 26 April 2011.

Criminal Records Bureau

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (a) teachers, and (b) support staff in schools, have been checked (1) successfully, and (2) unsuccessfully, by the Criminal Records Bureau, in each of the last three years.

Answer: The Government do not hold this information. In processing a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) certificate, the CRB will provide information from records held on the Police National Computer (PNC) and other data sources to an employer and the employer makes a decision about the applicant's suitability. The employers do not notify the CRB of the outcome of their decisions and it is not therefore possible to indicate whether a person has been checked successfully or unsuccessfully. Having said that, the overwhelming majority of CRB certificates do not contain any police conviction information, with 92 per cent of checks being issued clear in 2010-11.

Secondary information