Written question asked by Caroline Spelman (Conservative) on Tuesday, 20 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 March 2007. It was answered by Joan Ryan (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 May 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Vetting

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of Criminal Records Bureau checks which failed to pick up and list criminal offences in the latest period for which figures are available.

Answer: During the Disclosure process, administered by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are made by the CRB of an individual's personal data supplied with Disclosure applications for any criminal record (or caution, reprimand or warning) held at that time on the Police National Computer (PNC).In the first quarter of 2007 the CRB has issued approximately 817,000 Disclosures. During that period they have identified one case where an individual was issued with a Standard Disclosure which, on subsequent investigation, did not correctly reveal that the individual had received a police caution that was recorded on the PNC. Having identified the case the CRB have issued an amended Disclosure.

Secondary information