Criminal record checking is running out of control, claim the Liberal Democrats.
More than £500m has been spent on Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks since 2002, the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The rate of checks being carried out has also trebled since they were introduced, while the fees charged for carrying them out have also increased dramatically.<br><br>The figures, in Parliamentary answers given to Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office shadow, Jenny Willott, show:<br> <br>A total of £571m has been charged in fees for CRB checks since 2002<br><br>The number of checks has nearly tripled from 1.4m in 2002-03 to 3.85m checks in 2008-09 <br><br>The number of ‘enhanced’ checks has increased from 1.25m to 3.45m, while the number of ‘standard’ checks have risen from 178,000 to 396,000<br><br>The annual sum of fees charged has more than trebled, from £41m in 2002-03 to £131m in 2008-09<br><br>In the last three years, the fee for a standard check has risen by 37 per cent to £25.18 and for enhanced check by 45pc to £35.21<br><br>In 2008-09, nearly 400,000 people had to wait more than a month for their enhanced check, more than double the previous year<br><br>Commenting<br><br>Jenny Willott said: “The Government is allowing CRB checking to run out of control.<br> <br>“Checking criminal records of people working with children and vulnerable adults is essential. But when the system is so clumsy and costly that it starts putting people off wanting to work with children and vulnerable adults at all, there is something seriously wrong. <br> <br>“Despite acknowledging there is a problem, ministers have only made matters worse and it is clear many employers have simply ignored them. Requiring bodies to submit a minimum annual quota of CRB checks is ludicrous and does nothing to make anyone any safer. <br> <br>“Under the current system, job applicants and volunteers can be forced to pay for several identical CRB checks at any one time just because they are applying for more than one job. <br> <br>“There is no flexibility in to take into account when someone has just received a CRB check for another job application. All too often, they have pay to go through the whole process again. <br> <br>“Delays in the system are getting worse causing many to miss out on a job offers because their CRB check hasn’t come through in time.”
