HL Deb 06 October 2003 vol 653 c20WA
Baroness Greengross

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How long a Criminal Records Bureau certificate remains valid once issued to an individual by the bureau. [HL4513]

Baroness Scotland of Asthal

The Criminal Records Bureau issues two levels of certificate to applicants, standard disclosure and enhanced disclosure. Neither level carries any predetermined period of validity. Disclosures are intended to be used at the point of recruitment or a licensing decision for a particular position. This is because a conviction or other matter could be recorded against the subject of a disclosure at any time after it was issued.

Nevertheless, this does not preclude an individual from presenting his or her disclosure to another organisation after having used it for its originally intended purpose. However, given that there is no pre-determined period of validity associated with disclosures, it must be for the organisation concerned to decide whether it is prepared to accept a disclosure that was originally requested by another organisation.