Staff checks list published

The council has almost 900 jobs that require employees to undergo criminal record background (CRB) checks.

The positions include teachers, social workers and children’s centre staff who come into direct contact with children and vulnerable people on a day-to-day basis.

But the list, sent to the Reporter Series in response to a Freedom of Information request, includes more unexpected roles such as CCTV operators, tractor drivers and park wardens.

It also includes council officers working in areas such as environmental health and recycling, and manual jobs such as gas fitters, heating engineers, plumbers and tree surgeons.

A council spokesman said that not every member of staff employed in one of the 889 positions listed would have had to undergo a CRB check.

He said only employees who were likely to come into contact with children or vulnerable people had background checks done.

For example, a plumber working in a school would have a background check done, but not every council plumber would.

In June 2010 the Home Secretary Theresa May said councils should scale back the number of CRB checks they carry out.

A Kirklees Council spokesman said the council continued to monitored its CRB checks to ensure unnecessary checks are not carried out.