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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many applications for (a) standard disclosures and (b) enhanced disclosures are currently unissued six weeks after the original application; and what the reasons are for delays; [163904] (2) what the latest performance figures are for the Criminal Records Bureau with regard to applications for (a) standard disclosures and (b) enhanced disclosures. [163905] Ms Blears: As at 20 March 2004, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has a total of 1,196 applications awaiting completion after six weeks. I am unable to provide a breakdown by Disclosure type as requested because the information is not available from the CRB systems. The performance figures for February 2004 are as follows: 205,000 Disclosures have been issued during the month; 90 per cent. of Standard Disclosures were issued within two weeks; 90 per cent. of enhanced Disclosures were issued within four weeks; Over 3.4 million Disclosures have now been issued since the start of the service. Each application that is received by the CRB is progressed individually through the system and delays can occur at any point in the process. The CRB does not record centrally the reasons why individual applications have been delayed and to provide the hon. Member with the information as requested, would require a manual inspection of each of the 1,196 applications. However, the most common causes for an application being delayed are: Applications delayed due to a high volume of cases awaiting checks at Local Police Forces. Applications involving complex casework and checks from numerous Police Forces; Application forms being submitted to the CRB containing incomplete or inconsistent information; Applications stalling within the CRB automated systems due to technical errors.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

420 c93W; 163904;163905

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Criminal records Applications Administrative delays Standards Vetting

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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