R31 Response Accepted Self-assessed

Additional database access for CRB

Recommendation

As a priority, legislation should be brought forward to enable the CRB to access the following additional databases for the purpose of vetting: Her Majesty's Customs & Excise; National Criminal Intelligence Service; National Crime Squad; British Transport Police; and the Scottish and Northern Ireland equivalents of the Protection of Children Act List and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, provided the necessary legislative framework to enable the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to access relevant databases for vetting purposes (Gov.uk progress, 2006-11-08). This legislation facilitated access to additional databases as a priority for safeguarding checks.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 18 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Home Office
22 Jun 2004

The Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament on 22 June 2004, the day the Bichard Inquiry Report was published, accepting all 31 recommendations in full. The government stated it was "in principle, accepting Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately." Implementation led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (now the Disclosure and Barring Service). By February 2007, 21 of the 31 recommendations had been fully or substantially completed. See Hansard, 22 June 2004.

Read Full Response
Note: Government responded with a single statement accepting all 31 recommendations. Individual per-recommendation responses were not published separately.
Progress Timeline
Home Office states: Official Report
08 Nov 2006

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 received Royal Assent. Provided the necessary legislative framework for the DBS to access relevant databases for vetting purposes.

Source
Source
Inquiry Bichard Inquiry
Report The Bichard Inquiry Report 22 Jun 2004
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Home Office Primary
Themes & Tags
Police Vetting Inconsistencies Inter-agency benefit data sharing Vetting Crb Legislation
Recommendation age 21.8 yrs
Last formal update 7076 days ago