06 September 2002
As the row over delays in processing criminal checks for teachers raged, councils warned that the situation could spread, leading to closures in children's and elderly care services.
According to the National Association of Head Teachers, there are up to 10,000 key school staff waiting for a CRB check.
In an angry letter to Home Secretary David Blunkett this week, David Hart, NAHT general secretary, said the CRB delays were putting an extra strain on 'already overstretched school budgets'. 'What plans do you
have to compensate the schools for this financial burden caused by the inability of the Criminal Records Bureau, a body under your jurisdiction, to fulfil its role?' he wrote.
The Local Government Association said it would also be demanding compensation for CRB delays. 'The cost of supply teachers will run into thousands of pounds and could have a severe effect, especially on smaller schools,' said Graham Lane, chair of the LGA's education executive.
Lane said teachers and LEAs no longer had faith in the CRB and he listed a catalogue of fundamental flaws, including a computer that could not recognise signatures. He said forms for checks were regularly returned as 'unfinished', with the CRB demanding details of marriage certificates and driving licences when people had already stipulated that they were neither married nor drove.
Lane joined the calls from unions to ensure that Capita, the private sector company which runs the CRB in a £940m public-private partnership with the Home Office, was answerable. 'This is a record of bureaucratic bungling by Capita,' said general secretary Eamonn O'Kane.
So far the Home Office has refused to disclose whether Capita will be fined for failing to meet its performance targets.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office claimed that just 198,000 criminal check applications were still outstanding.
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