News

Record numbers in criminal records disputes says Huhne

Wed, 11 Nov 2009

A record number of people were involved in disputes with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) last year about wrongly being branded a criminal, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

The figures, revealed in a Parliamentary answer, show:

15,320 people have disputed their criminal records check since the CRB was launched in 2002/03
A record number of people (2,509) were involved in a dispute with the CRB last year (2008/09)
This is more than double the number of disputes in the CRB’s first year of operation (there were 1,111 in 2002/03), though the proportion of disclosures being disputed has fallen
Disclosures can be disputed if your name is the same as a criminal, if inaccurate information is held by the police or if you are the victim of identity fraud

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

“Criminal records contain such sensitive information that they must be one hundred percent accurate.

“It is just as unfair to label someone a criminal if they are innocent as it is to let an offender slip through the net.

“People will be outraged to be branded a criminal simply because they share a name or have been the victim of identity fraud. It could cost people jobs and ruin lives.

“These disputes do not fill you with confidence that the Government can run the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and check millions more people without making the same mistakes.”