Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Thursday, 3 December 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 December 2015 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Tuesday, 8 December 2015. A substantive answer was provided by Karen Bradley (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 December 2015 on behalf of the Home Office.

Vetting: Costs

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the cost of Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Answer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded through fees charged for disclosure certificates and from subscriptions to the DBS disclosure update service. DBS operates on a full cost recovery basis. There has not been a fee increase in four years and volunteers receive free checks.

The table below sets out the average time taken to process all three types of checks.

Timeframe

Standard Disclosures

Enhanced Disclosures


Enhanced Disclosures with List Checks

01st Nov 2010 to 31st Oct 2011

5.21

16.84

16.81

01st Nov 2011 to 31st Oct 2012

5.34

11.24

11.25

01st Nov 2012 to 31st Oct 2013

4.57

10.60

10.63

01st Nov 2013 to 31st Oct 2014

6.37

14.12

14.17

01st Nov 2014 to 31st Oct 2015

5.97

14.92

14.94

The fluctuations in processing times over the years relate to a number of factors, including changes in demand and demand forecasting, changes to IT systems and the performance of police forces for enhanced disclosures.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
18750
Session
2015-16
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Costs Vetting
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk