Written question asked by Paul Robert Holmes (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 5 March 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 March 2009. It was answered by Shahid Malik (Labour) on Friday, 8 May 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Vetting: Maladministration

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the ethnicity of those people who have been incorrectly designated as having a criminal conviction by the Criminal Records Bureau since the Bureau's inception is;

Answer: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) does not capture the ethnicity of applicants applying for disclosures. This information is not relevant to any of the searches done against the police national computer (PNC) or other data sources.The CRB operates a redress scheme in line with Cabinet Office guidelines. Where there is evidence of maladministration on the part of the bureau when processing a disclosure application, a consolatory payment is made to the applicant. Information regarding how many applicants have received a consolatory payment following an incorrect match to a record held on the PNC and how much was awarded is not available.

Secondary information