Changes to ‘red tape’ around volunteering legislation
There have been some positive developments this week for the voluntary and community sector with the government introducing a series of measures to reduce red tape for volunteers.
The new legislation supports Compact principles, and one of the key changes is to radically improve the portability of CRB Certificates so people can volunteer with more than one organisation without needing multiple checks. This is a clear delivery on Compact Principle 1.6, which states:
Ensure that it is free for volunteers to access Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks. Work towards streamlining processes for volunteers who are volunteering for more than one cause.
Other developments include the publication of a ‘Volunteer Code of Practice’, which sets out practical guidelines that will reduce any risks involved in volunteering. See the Volunteering England website for the full text of the code.
The Cabinet Office website has more information about all of the changes to legislation.
Comments
CRBs already expire as soon as they are completed. But so long as its not working with children or vulnerable adults I think this a great idea to have one check for all, this would save time and money, within common sense, there would need to be a realistic timeline between checks though. But for higher security jobs this should not apply regardless of situation, there have been way too many instances of child abuse in the past few years alone and checks should remain very high with updates from CRBs to employers/active alerts applied etc.