It's Out of My Life (I Hope)

I filled in my enhanced disclosure forms and trucked them up to my local Voluntary Services Council along with the specified forms of ID. I am heart sick of this process that has been dragging on for far too long. This form is so notoriously difficult to fill out correctly that it has Guidance Notes that are x6 longer than the relevant part of the original form. Even despite the notes, we had to contact the helpline to enquire about my wife’s name (it contains an apostrophe) and how it should be filled in on the form.

Tedious though the form is, filling it in is relatively easy for a man. Following the prevailing norms of when the Police Database was put together, completing the form is a minefield for women. There are copious notes on who is allowed to use Ms, and what must be done if a single woman (other than divorced or separated) chooses to use this title. And then, for women who did not take the husband’s name on marriage, the husband’s surname has to be included under “Other Names” and then the disclaimer, “Not Used” inserted along with the date of the marriage. Presumably because that is the starting point of when the woman had the name available to her and started to not use it. Sigh.

I’m glossing over the intricacies of how you describe your volunteer job title. And the complete irrelevance that this seems to have when considering one’s eligibility to deliver laughter workshops to groups of people who mostly do not come under the classification of vulnerable groups.

The form is completed - correctly, I hope given the 3 calls to the Helpline that has the brass neck to be an 0870 number. The ID evidence has been shown to the relevant designated person. And all of the forms and evidence have been sent off to Essex County Council’s Disclosure Unit along with a cheque for administrative costs. I hope that this process is now in train and that the process (apart from receiving the all clear result) is now firmly out of my life.

I understand that organisations feel that they have to demand these disclosures to cover themselves. But I also know that this process has been a waste of my time, energy and resources - and those of the people with whom I’ve been dealing. There is no obviously good reason why much of this process could not be completed online and get round some of the commonest reasons for rejecting forms (failing to write inside the character boxes; writing in blue rather than black ink; needing to include loose pieces of paper with other details. Verification of ID could be done by bringing documentation to the local Police Station or the nearest designated person: that verification could be sent by email using security certificates. There are many ways in which this could be made a simpler and more efficient process. I feel that volunteerism in the UK will continue to suffer if this process is not simplified and made more transparent.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project