HC Deb 15 October 2002 vol 390 cc765-7W
Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assurances(a) the Criminal Records Bureau and (b) Capita Plc gave that the backlog of applications would be cleared by the start of the school term; and if she will publish them; [74456]

(2) when her Department asked (a) the Criminal Records Bureau and (b) Capita Plc whether it would be possible to process applications by the start of the school term. [74457]

Mr. Miliband

Officials in my Department receive information about the performance of the CRB on a regular basis. When interim arrangements to allow people to be appointed in advance of receipt of a Disclosure were first introduced from 24 May, the letter to Local Education Authorities stated following advice from the CRB that: "the CRB are confident that their problems will be resolved and that all relevant Disclosures have been issued before the start of the Autumn term." During June and July information provided by the CRB continued to indicate that they expected to clear the backlog of applications by the end of August, and to achieve the service standard of issuing Enhanced Disclosures within 3 weeks of receipt of the application by that point. During August it became increasingly uncertain whether the CRB would achieve that, and my officials enquired if the checks needed for staff at the beginning of term could be identified and given priority. In discussion with my officials on 21 August officials of the Bureau stated that they had identified approximately 22,500 outstanding applications for checks on education staff and were confident that the Bureau could clear most of these by 4 September, although it was possible that they might not be able to complete some where more information was required. Bureau officials also said that the actual checking process would be completed by the start of the new term, and that it would be possible to courier results to Local Education Authorities after 29 August. Further discussions took note of the range of different dates for the start of the new term, with 4 September the most common. Lists of term start-dates were requested from Local Education Authorities for the purpose of prioritising the processing of applications. On 27 August the CRB was asked to agree a form of words to be included in my Department's letter to Local Education Authorities, and agreed the following text: The Criminal Records Bureau is already targeting the checks that need to be cleared for education personnel on the basis of key word searches and the registration authorities that have sent them. Emergency action is in hand to ensure that as many as possible of these are cleared by 4 September, whilst ensuring there is no compromise in the integrity of the checks. In order to assist this process, and ensure that priority is given to those posts that will be most critical to the smooth running of schools in your LEA at the beginning of term, it is strongly recommended that each LEA provides the CRB with the following list of information as a matter of urgency, if you have not already done so:

  1. (1) Name of LEA and number as a CRB registration authority
  2. (2) Name, telephone number, and email address of key contact in the LEA
  3. (3) Start of term date for pupils (we have already provided a full list for all LEAs in date order to CRB, but it will help to have this together with the other information)
  4. (4) A list, with the name (first name, initial, surname), and CRB application number, of those individuals that the LEA regards as the highest priority for clearance for the beginning of term, in the light of the guidance given above. Please keep this as short as possible.
  5. (5) A full list, with the name (first name, initial, surname) and CRB application number, of all those individuals for whom the LEA is still awaiting outcomes of checks. This can follow the priority list if not readily available."

My Department did not have direct contact with Capita PLC on these matters.

Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what proposals her Department has to reimburse schools the costs incurred as a result of delays by the Criminal Records Bureau in vetting staff before the commencement of the Autumn term; [74305]

(2)what steps are being taken to recover costs incurred by (a) schools and other educational institutions and (b) her Department as a result of failures by the Criminal Records Bureau and Capita plc to process applications prior to the start of the Autumn term; [74307]

(3) what assessment she has made of the cost to schools of additional supply staff needed as a result of the failure to complete Criminal Records Bureau checks by the start of the school term. [74311]

Mr. Miliband

We are currently considering representations we have received on behalf of schools about compensation for extra costs incurred as a result of delays by the CRB in issuing Disclosures. No decisions have been made as yet. We have asked a number of Local Education Authorities to provide estimates of the costs incurred by schools

My Department's officials are currently discussing with the Criminal Records Bureau a claim for compensation in respect of the costs incurred as a result of having to put in place arrangements to make checks of List 99 for schools and other employers and agencies.

Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance her Department issued to(a) the Criminal Records Bureau and (b) Capita plc regarding the relative priority to be accorded to checks on (i) teachers with continuous records of employment in UK schools and (ii) new applicants to teach in UK schools. [74308]

Mr. Miliband

None.

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