HC Deb 06 April 2001 vol 366 cc359-60W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost to public funds of exempting volunteers from fees for criminal record checks. [157348]

Mr. Charles Clarke

It remains our intention that the Criminal Records Bureau will be self-financing by means of the charges that it makes for the disclosures that it issues.

Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to ensure that information held by the Criminal Records Bureau is as accurate as possible before checks become available to employers; and if he will make a statement. [157171]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) will rely on a number of data sources, according to the nature of the case. The CRB has been liaising with all those responsible for the data sources in question. We fully recognise, and entirely share, concerns that have been expressed about delays in inputting data on to the Police National Computer, and errors and omissions in some of the data. Indeed, these were highlighted by reports commissioned by the Government. We have been working closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), the Information Commissioner and other concerned parties to tackle these problems. Police forces are now working to a compliance strategy that has been drawn up by ACPO. This sets quantified performance indicators for key aspects of both quality and timeliness, including the prompt inputting of data both in the initial stages of a case and following the conclusion of trial proceedings. There are also agreed programmes to tackle backlogs. Performance data for all forces are being routinely collected by PITO, and HMIC will be auditing performance. HMIC will be disseminating to all forces, through conferences and other means, information on good practice in relation to business processes in order to eradicate avoidable delays. Work is also being undertaken to produce revised protocols for weeding out old records, and the development by PITO of programs for the automated implementation of these protocols will be given priority.