The Home Office is leading a change programme to modernise and improve the disclosure and barring services delivered currently by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). They are seeking to procure new and replacement services for business process outsourcing and application services for the running of disclosure and barring services.

CRB and ISA will be merged into one organisation to be known as the disclosure and barring service at a date to be confirmed.

The current disclosure services enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, particularly work that involves children or vulnerable adults. The barring service assists in preventing unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults in regulated activity. Services will require to be transitioned from the existing service contracts.

In addition the new contract will seek to support and implement the various recommendations from the criminal records review and the vetting and barring scheme policy reviews published in February 2011, the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Bill, and look for continual improvements to the services provided over the life of the contract, including furthering the UK Government’s digital delivery agenda in respect of the services provided to customers.