To:   All County Boards

Dear All

Criminal Records Bureau checks – 1 April 2005

Child Welfare and Protection was introduced to Cricket with the launch of ‘Safe Hands – Welfare of Young People in Cricket ' in October 2003. In conjunction with the new policy the ECB are progressing responsibilities with regard to screening the individuals who work with all children and young people in Cricket .

In line with NSPCC and Sport England directives implementation dates for certain child protection criteria must be set and adhered to. The identified criteria will have a significant impact on recreational cricket. In order to ensure a consistent approach across each County the following must be achieved by 1 April 2005 :

All ECB affiliated Clubs and Leagues must adopt the ECB ‘Safe Hands – Welfare of Young People in Cricket ' policy

All ECB affiliated Clubs must appoint a Club Welfare Officer

All Coaches, Umpires, Scorers and any other person within the Club who has regular or significant contact with children must have completed a satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau check

If an affiliated Club or League will not have an Annual General Meeting (AGM) before 1 April 2005 there should be an interim adoption by the Management Committee or equivalent until the policy can be formally adopted into their Constitution. The suggested Constitutional phraseology is “To ensure a duty of care to all members of the Club/League by adopting and implementing the ECB ‘Safe Hands – Welfare of Young People in Cricket ' Policy and any future versions of the Policy.” This is also available to download from www.ecb.co.uk .

The ECB is currently planning to allow Leagues to affiliate to the ECB and it is strongly recommended that all Leagues nominate a Welfare Officer and complete the attached form which should be submitted to the County Welfare Officer. Once a Club has nominated their Club Welfare Officer they should inform their League Welfare Officer using the same form, detailing their information which should then be made available to the County Welfare Officer. Clubs and Leagues will also be able to complete the form electronically through www.play-cricket.com or www.ecb.co.uk and this information will then be made available automatically to the County Welfare Officer and to the League Welfare Officer if one has been appointed.

On 12 October 2004 the ECB launched a new web based system to allow all Cricket Development Officers and County Welfare Officers access to a password-protected site. This site provides information on those individuals who have completed or are undertaking a CRB check via the ECB. It is intended, subject to local County Board arrangements, to extend this access to Leagues that adopt the ‘Safe Hands' policy and appoint a League Welfare Officer. The site also contains information on individuals who are permanently or temporarily suspended from involvement in cricket for reasons relating to child protection.

It is important to remember that CRB checking is only one part of the process of ensuring an individual is suitable to work or come into contact with children in Cricket. Clubs and Leagues must be aware that appointing a Coach, Umpire or Scorer without vetting that individual's suitability may jeopardise insurance cover. It would also significantly increase civil and/or criminal liability should a child welfare incident occur or if it transpires that the individual is banned by law from working with young people.

Overseas Personnel

In addition, this has obvious further ramifications for persons coming to England and Wales from overseas. The phrase ‘Overseas Personnel' pertains to any individual who does not reside full time in the United Kingdom and partakes in the activity or undertakes the responsibilities of a Coach, Umpire or Scorer.

All Clubs, Leagues and Boards in the process of negotiating contracts with overseas personnel for next year must stipulate that a criminal check equivalent to a CRB check or ‘Certificate of Good Conduct' is obtained from either the High Commission or Police Authority in the individual's country of origin. The UK has reciprocal CRB arrangements with most Commonwealth countries and an equivalent check is preferable to a Certificate of Good Conduct. The clearance information must be submitted to the ECB along with an ‘Overseas Coach Clearance' form which is attached. A copy of this can also be downloaded from www.play-cricket.com or www.ecb.co.uk .

Please note that the guidance on the completion of the Overseas Coach Clearance Form ‘strongly recommends' that the Coach attends the Good Practice and Child Protection and First Aid Appointed Person courses.

Any Club, League or County Board that appoints a person (paid or unpaid) in the roles set out in this letter must be prepared to take direct responsibility if they fail to carry out the necessary CRB recruitment procedures.

Furthermore, a Club or League must inform the County Welfare Officer if a relevant individual i.e. Coach, Umpire or Scorer (over 18) fails to comply with a CRB check. The ECB has established a Referral Management Group to assess such situations and to recommend appropriate action, which can include permanent or temporary suspension from involvement in cricket, in order to protect young people.

League Disciplinary Procedures

Until the introduction of Child Welfare and Protection it was the responsibility of a League to discipline any person who had offended against a person regardless of that person's age.

However, with the introduction of Child Welfare and Protection it is not the responsibility of those in cricket to determine whether abuse of a child or young person has taken place but it is their responsibility to report it.

Any incident that takes place during the course of a cricket match that results in verbal, physical or sexual assault on a person under the age of 18 years must be referred to the County Welfare Officer for advice and/or investigation. Leagues will be provided with further information shortly.

Portability of CRB Certificates

Finally, the release of this letter has been delayed to provide an important update on CRB checks. On Tuesday 23 November the ECB Welfare Management Group met and decided that from 1 April 2005 the ECB would cease to accept CRB Certificates obtained from other organisations.

The ECB has for the last 2 years been quite accommodating where ‘Portability' of Certificates is concerned. However, the amount of administration required to process and authenticate the Certificates is t hree times that for a new CRB form.

There are also indications that the CRB will in any case cease to permit Certificates to be transferred from one organisation to another. The WMG felt that accepting such Certificates was too labour intensive and placed unreasonable demands on volunteers in Cricket .

If you require further assistance with this matter please contact your County Welfare Officer. Thank you for your active support of this important project.

Yours sincerely

Hugh Morris

Acting Chief Executive

Please return to: League/County Welfare Officer