§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time employers currently have to wait for clearance through the police vetting procedure of prospective employees who wish to work with children.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe last full year for which comprehensive figures are available is the year to 31 March 1993. Not all forces provided an average response time and it is, therefore, not possible to give an overall average.
Where a force only needs to consult records which are available within the force, the majority respond in 14 days or less, with just over half responding in seven days or under. Where inquiries have to be made of other police forces, an extra delay of three weeks or more can be incurred.
A few forces, though have average response times significantly longer than these, with one force responding within an average of 70 days where internal inquiries only were needed and 75 days where inquiries of other forces were required.
§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for vetting of prospective employees wishing to work with children each police authority received in the last year for which figures are available from(a) education authorities, (b) the independent education sector, (c) social services departments, (d) health authorities and (e) the voluntary sector.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe last year for which figures are available is the year to 31 March 1993, when the total number of child protection checks carried out by police forces in England and Wales was 663,103. The number of child protection checks carried out by each force, excluding checks made for the voluntary organisations consultancy service, was as follows:
161W
Number Avon and Somerset 16,641 Bedfordshire 7,847 Cambridgeshire 10,589 Cheshire 15,965 City of London 119 Cleveland 5,716 Cumbria 3,901 Derbyshire 9,944 Devon and Cornwall 17,951 Dorset 12,973 Durham 9,179 Dyfed-Powys 12,198 Essex 17,725 Gloucestershire 17,500 Greater Manchester 30,653 Gwent 4,319 Hampshire 27,463 Hertfordshire 12,588 Humberside 9,040 Kent 17,239 Lancashire 18,555 Leicestershire 19,653 Lincolnshire 7,128 Merseyside 25,078 Metropolitan 82,875 Norfolk 10,702 Northamptonshire 7,499 Northumbria 15,325 North Wales 9,701 North Yorkshire 6,019 Nottinghamshire 14,910 South Wales 12,915
Number South Yorkshire 16,313 Staffordshire 7,414 Surrey 12,337 Suffolk 5,003 Sussex 15,460 Thames Valley 29,562 Warwickshire 10,772 West Mercia 17,485 West Midlands 33,282 West Yorkshire 14,812 Wiltshire 12,122 1 Approximate. In the same period the voluntary organisations consultancy service made 8,631 requests to police forces for checks to be made on behalf of certain national voluntary child care organisations. In addition, some of the checks requested by local authorities may have been made on behalf of voluntary organisations.
A further breakdown in the way sought is not available.
§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to require the voluntary sector to use the police vetting service of prospective employees wishing to work with children.
§ Mr. Charles WardleNone. However, the current review by the Home Office of arrangements for access to criminal records for vetting purposes may result in checks being made more widely available to the voluntary child care sector, should it wish to use them.