§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) under what circumstances the moment(a) when an employee is confirmed in post, (b) when a provisional offer of a job is given and (c) any offer of employment is given will be the trigger for a registered person to seek a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure; and if he will make a statement. [70313]
(2) how often registered persons will be required to review Criminal Records Bureau disclosures in respect of employees and other affected persons in connection with the Care Home Regulations; and if he will make a statement; [70320]
(3) what investigations his Department made regarding the capacity of the Criminal Records Bureau to process requests for disclosure before he made his regulations for care home standards. [70312]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Care Homes Regulations require Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks to be satisfactorily completed before a person can be874W permanently employed in a care home. The national care standards commission will need to satisfy itself that appropriate checks have been completed, in order to protect the care home's residents. Subject to this, it is for individual care home owners to decide when to apply for criminal record checks in respect of any person they plan to employ.
There is no statutory requirement to review CRB checks once obtained. However, under the previous regulatory arrangements it was standard practice for further police checks to be undertaken after a three year period in respect of owners, managers and staff in children's homes.
While drafting the Care Homes Regulations 2001, the department kept in contact with the Home Office about the establishment of the CRB. The department was satisfied that the CRB would be able to meet the demands for disclosures. The CRB has experienced early operating difficulties which have lead to delays in responding to applications for Disclosure, measures are being taken to overcome these. We are determined that the CRB will be in a position as soon as possible to meet the high standards of service that it has made clear it will deliver to its customers. The short-term implications for particular service areas using the CRB service are being closely monitored.