Criminal Records Bureau (Hansard, 1 July 2002)

§ Lord Corbett of Castle Vale
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Criminal Records Bureau is meeting its targets for processing applications.

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, the Criminal Records Bureau is not meeting its disclosure application processing service standards. It has introduced a performance improvement plan including revised procedures, rapidly recruiting additional staff, increasing resources and extending working hours. There is a special procedure for teachers. The application backlog has been outsourced to Hays Plc's Chennai (India) data processing centre.

§ Lord Corbett of Castle Vale
My Lords, I thank my noble and learned friend for that response. Since Capita, the private service provider, is taking taxpayers' money to deliver an agreed level of service, will it be fined for failing to do so? When is it expected that the target time of three weeks to process applications will be met so that both voluntary bodies and local authorities can get the protection that the Criminal Records Bureau was set up to provide to the public?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, Capita and the CRB have to work together to ensure that they deliver the performance standard to which my noble friend refers. It is vital that that is delivered. Once that standard has been delivered one can start determining what the consequences are of not having met it before. But the critical matter is to ensure that Capita and the CRB work together to deliver that standard as quickly as possible.

§ Lord Dholakia
My Lords, I support the concern expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Corbett. Why is the Criminal Records Bureau in such a shambles? It takes over three months to carry out a criminal record check on people working in the sensitive fields of childcare or teaching. That has a serious impact on applicants—particularly those working in the field of resettlement—employed in non-sensitive jobs. What will happen later in the year when not only will sensitive checks be required but people will have to produce their records to employers? How will the Government meet the target when full disclosure is required whether or not people are in sensitive jobs?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, the process has been going since March of this year. Everyone agrees that it was a sensible policy to have a CRB 8 which could make disclosures of the kind that it makes. It is not meeting its target. I made that absolutely clear in my original Answer. We are working as hard as we possibly can to try to ensure that it will meet its targets. A recovery plan has been agreed between the Criminal Records Bureau and Capita to try to meet those targets. I agree entirely with the noble Lord that in relation to teachers or anyone who works with either children or other vulnerable people, it is important that the check is made and that it is made within a reasonable time. That is what we are working towards. But we need time to get there.

§ Baroness Anelay of St Johns
My Lords, the Minister has referred to the fact that there is now outsourcing of this processing to Madras in India. Can he tell the House what guarantee there is of the integrity of the information being outsourced? If, by any remote chance, there was a slip-up and information was not kept confidential, against whom would an individual have to bring a complaint and a case? Would it be against Capita or against Hays which controls the system in Madras?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, the material that is being sent to India is the application forms. It does not include the material which will be matched with the application forms. The application form involves people giving their name, address and the particular job that they are applying for and some other information. It does not include the information that comes from, for example, the police national computer. Having said all that, there are plainly security considerations. We have made checks to ensure that the levels of security are reasonable.

§ Baroness Sharples
My Lords, the noble and learned Lord says that the CRB is not meeting its targets. By how much is it missing them?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, as my noble friend Lord Corbett said, the intended target is that 90 per cent of enhanced disclosures should be issued within three weeks. The precise figure of how many we are meeting within three weeks is not known, but it is dramatically below that.

§ Lord Phillips of Sudbury
My Lords, is the Minister aware of the concern in the voluntary and charity sector that more than 2 million applications per annum are now being made? It is reckoned that it costs roughly £10 to £20 in administration charges for each application. There is a £12 fee in respect of each application which is waived in respect of volunteers only. But, on any reckoning, the charity and voluntary sectors have to bear something like £30 million plus a year in extra overheads under the process. Will the Government give sympathetic consideration to assisting the voluntary sector in meeting those charges?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, as the noble Lord rightly points out, in relation to volunteers the 9 fee has been waived completely. However, registered bodies must countersign applications so that not just anyone can apply. Those registered bodies charge voluntary organisations. We have tried to keep the costs down as much as possible. But a balance must be struck between getting that protection—namely, ensuring that there is a CRB check before someone works with children or young people—and, on the other hand, not being able to do it because of the costs. We think that a sensible balance has been struck. We have heard the representations made. Our response to those representations was to make it free for volunteers. We think that that is about the right balance.

Lord Berkeley
My Lords, does my noble and learned friend agree that this is merely the latest in a long list of alleged failures by this company? How long will it continue before the Government receive large penalty payments from the company? Is it possible to appoint another company in its place, or has it got the Government over a barrel for five years?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, as I said to my noble friend Lord Corbett, it is critical to reach a solution with the company as quickly as possible. If that is not possible, we will have to examine the legal remedies.