Recommendation R31: Additional database access for CRB
From The Bichard Inquiry Report, published 22 June 2004.
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.
In brief (written by this site)
In May 2007, the Home Office reported that British Transport Police had been fully integrated into the Disclosure Service, and noted that a pilot testing a search engine with Serious Organised Crime Agency data would run until the end of July 2007 to determine the way forward (Home Office, May 2007). Earlier, in December 2004, the department stated that measures to enable database access were included in the SOCPB following preliminary discussions with the relevant policing and intelligence bodies (Home Office response, Dec 2004).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
6.93 These measures are included in the SOCPB. 6.94 Preliminary discussions have taken place with British Transport Police (BTP), C&E, NCS and the NCIS regarding the types of data held and how this could be accessed.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Government accepted all 31 recommendations collectively: the Home Secretary's written statement of 11 January 2005 records that "All 31 recommendations were accepted by the Government when the Inquiry reported in June 2004". No document states an acceptance decision for any single recommendation. The response shown against each recommendation is the Home Office's answer to it in the first progress report, sent to Sir Michael Bichard on 22 December 2004 and placed in the Library of the House on 11 January 2005. The Government then reported against the recommendations three more times, in November 2005, May 2006 and May 2007; the updates shown are taken from those reports.
Delivery
Home Office says in progress (22 May 2007)
In September 2006, BTP data was loaded onto I-PLX for Enhanced Disclosure purposes. Since that date, BTP has been fully integrated into the Disclosure Service, assessing its data for relevancy for specific applicants. The CRB and SOCA have started a pilot to test a new search engine and a new way of identifying possible matches using SOCA data. This pilot will run until the end of July 2007, at which point we will take stock on the way forward.
From: Bichard Inquiry Recommendations: Fourth Progress Report
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement