back to article Online criminal records checks to save Surrey council £300k

Surrey county council has launched a new system to conduct Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks in an effort to cut costs and improve efficiency. The local authority said that the new system, which is being provided by technology firm Atlantic Data, will save up to £300,000 over three years and speed up CRB processes. Under …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Ketlan
    Alert

    It'll be interesting to see what happens when someone (inevitably) manages to open this system up to the public gaze, either accidentally or deliberately.

    1. Lee Dowling Silver badge

      I've worked in a few places that use Atlantic Data. It's already out there and being used for the last, what, ten years or so? I'm not sure but I've certainly used it in more than one school and over the last 4-5 years.

      Whether they do a good job of securing it or not, I'm not sure, but I've never heard of anything going wrong with them. Although, unless I'm being confused with another, they wanted people to move to a "pre-pay" system where you put thousands of pounds of credit on your account and then slowly eek it away over the years (which gives them a lot of free interest, I imagine) and I remember that being one reason why they were scrapped from one school. A PAYG / invoice account system they operated previously worked infinitely better, but apparently they didn't trust schools to pay up.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It is quick

    As a Surrey resident who's undergone a couple of enhanced checks in the last year or so, I can vouch the turn-around is indeed blindingly efficient.

  3. Thomas 18
    Trollface

    Moar Databases!!!!

    Government requires more databases because databases make you safer! Our statistics teams have drawn a graph that shows a direct inverse correlation between number of databases and violent crimes committed annually.

  4. Alpha Tony

    'The online system will improve the security of personal information compared to the previous paper based process, according to a spokesman for the local authority.'

    LOL!

    That is all.

  5. Lockwood

    I've had CRBs take years to turn around before now.

    Anything to speed the process up would be awesome.

  6. Colin Bull 1
    Pirate

    bring back the old days

    In 1805 John Richards Lapenotière took 36 hours to bring news of the battle of Trafalgar to London from Falmouth. In 2012 Cornwall Council take 8 weeks to get a CRB check done and the standard procedure for a Taxi driver's licence includes a waiver because they have to issue it without . No wonder the council tax is going through the roof. Online system will probably come - but it will be 50 years to late for me.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great faster mistakes

    I have known a few people who have had issues with CRB checks as they made mistakes and bottom line made a clean sheet person look like a criminal when they were not. This will only speed up that level of SNAFU. Also knowing one of the secratary's of the head of surrey council and all the stories associated I can honestly say that it is not secure and sure what stopes me using somebody elses ID's - nothing as there is no biometrics involved at all.

    needs a "it will end in tears" icon ;-(

  8. JaitcH
    FAIL

    This will save News International a Fortune in Bribes

    No more bribing crooked Plods for the low down on their article targets.

    The more automation te easier things are to crack.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    More BS From the Propaganda Department

    Marketing is the art of (deceit) selling an empty box at a premium price while convincing consumers it's what they want, it's what the need, and it's flawless.

    "The online system will improve the security of personal information compared to the previous paper based process, according to a spokesman for the local authority."

    In the end, more folks will be harmed. This one needs to be hammered out of existence before it becomes common practice, or am I already behind the curve?

  10. Gadfly

    The issue that has not been addressed is why every organisation requires a separate check, even if you've just had one done. Surely once you've been shown to be OK, that check should be valid for a number of years, or until it is revoked for a genuine reason, rather like a driving licence.

    1. Skoorb
      Unhappy

      It's not done 'caue you didn't like it.

      We've been there and done that, it was scrapped 'cause everyone (including most people here) hated the idea.

      It was called the "Vetting and Barring Scheme" and it was essentially a 'registration' you applied for where your employer would be sent a note if you got a relevant conviction and or were added to a relevant child protection list. Remember? It was cancelled because people didn't like the idea of being 'registered' they much preferred the idea of having many entries on the CRB's systems every time anybody wanted a spot check of your criminal record on that day.

      See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Safeguarding_Authority#Vetting_and_Barring_Scheme.2C_the_original_structure_and_design.

      1. Lockwood

        Re: It's not done 'caue you didn't like it.

        I thought it was scrapped because it'd cost money to design and implement, but soldiering on with the current scheme wouldn't (running costs notwithstanding)

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Secure logging on process?

    > The online system will improve the security of personal information compared to the previous paper based process, according to a spokesman for the local authority. Logging on to the system requires passing through three levels of security and access is denied of they are not completed successfully, he told Guardian Government Computing ..

    Would they mind lending this `process' to the Credit Card industry, as they can't figure out how to make online transactions secure?

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/04/02/technology-global-payments-visa-mastercard.html

  12. Crisp
    Go

    Personal Information Leakage.

    "The online system will improve the security of personal information compared to the previous paper based process, according to a spokesman for the local authority."

    I doubt it. If other councils are anything to go by all a computerised system will do is make is easier to leak a lot more personal information in one go.

  13. Fai

    Security & ISAs

    The CRB will make registered bodies jump through hoops before they can process disclosures electronically. In fact, more so than processing paper applications as computer systems have to be locked down to pass the relevant ISOs required. Certainly though, this doesn't stop other council departments handling different sets of data from being irresponsible, but as a commercial umbrella body, everything has to be tightly controlled.

    Regarding V&B aka ISA, we (at DDC) had this in place ready after months of development, but as the new Coalition government rolled in, this was halted and abandoned (pretty much like many other Labour-led projects really). It would have signalled a revolution otherwise as it places the onus on the applicant rather than the employer.

    However, the move to e-Bulk 4 years ago has really made a difference to the turnaround - a good number of applications nowadays come back same day! Against the 1-2 week turnaround for the paper-process, this is a massive improvement, just as how email is now preferred instead of regular old postal letters.

This topic is closed for new posts.