§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimate they have made of the costs that will be incurred by individuals who apply to become registered volunteers using the proposed Criminal Record Check and Enhanced Criminal Record Check; and [HL3953]
What estimate they have made of the costs which may be involved for voluntary sector bodies acting as registered agencies to facilitate the criminal record check procedure; and what measures they have taken to ameliorate such costs for the voluntary agencies concerned. [HL3954]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonIt has always been the intention that, when the Criminal Records Bureau comes into operation, it will be expected to recover its costs through charges that it makes in relation to the certificates that it issues, on application, to individuals. Voluntary organisations, and employers, will be able to reimburse applicants if they so wish. In the case of Criminal Record Certificates and 49WA Enhanced Criminal Record Certificates, applications will need to be countersigned by a person registered with the Bureau for this purpose. Work is continuing on determining the fees for certificates, taking into account a number of elements, including costs incurred by police forces in undertaking searches of local police records in connection with Enhanced Criminal Record Certificates and the bureau's running costs, and fees for registration. The fees will be set by regulations, which will be laid before Parliament.
Waiving charges in respect of those applying from the voluntary sector would inevitably increase the cost to the public purse or for other applicants. We have made clear our determination to keep fees as low as possible. An impact assessment will address the implications for the voluntary sector and others. This exercise will provide an up-to-date assessment and the results will be made known.