What is a crb check for?

Answer 1

A CRB check is a type of criminal record check issued by the Criminal Records Bureau. In 2012, CRB checks were replaced by DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.

CRB checks/DBS checks are a record of an person's cautions, final warnings, reprimands and convictions (spent and unspent) and helps employers to make safer recruitment decisions.

Answer 2

The CRB (criminal Records Bureau) was replaced by the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) in 2012 so DBS checks have replaced CRB checks.

A basic criminal record check includes:

• Information on all unspent convictions

A standard DBS Check includes:

• Information on all cautions, final warning, reprimands and convictions (spent and unspent) unless they are eligible for filtering.

An enhanced DBS Check includes:

• Information on all cautions, final warning, reprimands and convictions (spent and unspent) unless they are eligible for filtering.
• Police intelligence (if the police believe the information is relevant to a recruitment decision)
• DBS Barred List information (if requested)(previously known as ISA Barred List)

Cautions, final warnings and reprimands become eligible for filtering once 6 years have passed (2 if the applicant was under 18 at the time of caution) provided the offence was not on the 'DBS list of offences that will never be filtered from a criminal record check'

A conviction will be eligible for filtering provided:

• 11 years have passed (5.5. if under 18 at time of conviction), and
• the applicant does not have any other conviction offences, and
• the conviction did not result in a custodial sentence (whether or not served), and
• the offence was not on the 'DBS list of offences that will never be filtered from a criminal record check'

If any applicant has more than once conviction offence, all of their convictions will show on a DBS check.

The 'DBS list of offences that will never be filtered from a criminal record check' is available on the Disclosure and Barring Service website and includes more serious/violent/sexual crimes.

Answer 3

Prior to the introduction of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in 2012, a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check was used in England and Wales by employers to check an applicant's criminal history during the recruitment process.