§ Mr. Paul BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make it his Department's policy to conduct a further regulatory impact assessment on the Criminal Records Bureau to find out what impact the fee increase will have upon the voluntary sector; [120089]
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact the increase in Criminal Records Bureau check fees will have on the voluntary sector. [120090]
§ Paul GogginsAs the Criminal Records Bureau moves towards full cost recovery, it has been necessary to make the increases in fees that were announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 5 June 2003,Official Report, column 27WS. We have made it clear that checks will remain free in the case of volunteers (worth an estimated value of £10 million in the 2003–04 financial year). In other cases, responsibility for paying the fee rests primarily with the individual applicant, although it is open to the employer to reimburse the cost. I will place in the Library a Regulatory Impact Assessment which assesses the impact of the fee increase for the voluntary and business sectors.