Disciple stumped by CRB address gaff

The following correspondence from an anonymous disciple really needs no extra comment from Yours Truly. Read it and weep:

Dear Guru,

During my time as an HR bod, I have had many unfortunate dealings with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), but today’s really does take the galette. [That’s a French pastry, by the way.]

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

We have a number of staff members from Somalia, some of whom came to this country as refugees a few years ago. I was helping one to complete her CRB disclosure form, for which one has to provide addresses for the past five years. She said that she used to live under a tree in Somalia.

I wasn’t quite sure how to put this on the form, so called the CRB for advice on the matter. When I told them that she didn’t have a previous address as she used to live under a tree in Somalia, they promptly replied: “Well, did she have a postcode there?” In the end, we filled in the address as ‘tree street’ in Somalian.