CRB criticised for delays and costs

16 Jan 03
Voluntary organisations have slammed the troubled Criminal Records Bureau for providing a poor service. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations said its members had 'an extreme lack of confidence in the CRB'.

17 January 2003

A survey by the council of 110 members found that 47 rated the service as 'very poor', and another 41 gave other unfavourable ratings. The most common complaints were the cost of checks, and delays and mistakes by the CRB.

The NCVO said that charges of up to £15 for volunteer checks were the result of the CRB's failure to cover the administration costs of registered umbrella bodies. Organisations must either go through an umbrella body or register directly with the CRB.

Director of public policy Cameron Robb said: 'Despite the government's promises, in reality volunteer checks are not free and many organisations cannot even locate an affordable registered umbrella body in their area.' The delays might be deterring potential volunteers, he added.

More local authorities should act as umbrella bodies for charity and community groups, the NCVO suggested.

Other problems highlighted included concern that the staff of service contractor Capita were 'not sufficiently knowledgeable', and that there was no clear process to find umbrella bodies.

The CRB has been dogged by criticism since it admitted last year that thousands of checks on teachers would not be completed in time for the new school year. In September, it also revealed that it had sent confidential information on some teachers to the wrong employers.

But the Home Office insisted that the CRB had improved. A spokeswoman said that it was taking five weeks to process cases, compared with a service standard target of three weeks.

'The average time is coming down. Last summer the CRB was processing in the mid-20,000s of applications each week, and now it is in the low 40,000s,' she said.

Home Secretary David Blunkett is still studying the findings of an independent review of the CRB. A summary and recommendations would be published in due course, the Home Office said.

PFjan2003

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