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Home Office

Answer

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to ensure that information held by the Criminal Records Bureau is as accurate as possible before checks become available to employers; and if he will make a statement. [157171] Mr. Charles Clarke: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) will rely on a number of data sources, according to the nature of the case. The CRB has been liaising with all those responsible for the data sources in question. We fully recognise, and entirely share, concerns that have been expressed about delays in inputting data on to the Police National Computer, and errors and omissions in some of the data. Indeed, these were highlighted by reports commissioned by the Government. We have been working closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), the Information Commissioner and other concerned parties to tackle these problems. Police forces are now working to a compliance strategy that has been drawn up by ACPO. This sets quantified performance indicators for key aspects of both quality and timeliness, including the prompt inputting of data both in the initial stages of a case and following the conclusion of trial proceedings. There are also agreed programmes to tackle backlogs. Performance data for all forces are being routinely collected by PITO, and HMIC will be auditing performance. HMIC will be disseminating to all forces, through conferences and other means, information on good practice in relation to business processes in order to eradicate avoidable delays. Work is also being undertaken to produce revised protocols for weeding out old records, and the development by PITO of programs for the automated implementation of these protocols will be given priority.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

366 c359-60W; 157171

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Disclosure of information Databases Criminal records ICT Personal records Standards Vetting Criminal Records Bureau

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk