http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=34476&email_access=on
Alison Hollingsworth
"There are important public policy reasons for encouraging employers to employ people with criminal records. Statistics show that if a person with a criminal record finds settled employment, the chances of them re-offending are cut by two-thirds. However, it is recognised that in some cases, it is proper for an employer to know whether a job applicant has a criminal record and it was for this purpose that the government set up the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in 2002, under Part V of the Police Act 1997 (the Act). The aim of the CRB is to provide employers with the information they need to make safe recruitment decisions and to put the provision of information concerning a person's criminal record on a statutory footing."
