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25 Feb 2003 : Column 395W—continued
Criminal Records Bureau
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for Criminal Records Bureau checks processing will be postponed from March 2003 to 2004. [96589]
Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 176W.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commission an evaluation of the impact of the Criminal Records Bureau on volunteering in deprived communities. [96591]
Hilary Benn: We are determined that the operation of the Criminal Records Bureau should benefit the voluntary sector. As part of the Bureau's wider consultation arrangements with its customers, a voluntary and community sector working group has been established whose terms of reference specifically include monitoring the implications of the disclosure service for, and considering how the service should best meet the needs of, the voluntary and community sector.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Criminal Record Bureau plans to launch an advisory service to employers about the availability of checks in a variety of countries; how much the contract is valued at; when the contract will expire; how many people are employed in the service; how much his Department is investing in the service; and if he will make a statement. [97141]
Hilary Benn: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) launched an overseas information service on 4 December 2002. This provides information, via a fax-back service, on the criminal record checking regimes available in 15 countries. It is expected that the number of countries included in this service will rise during the course of 2003.
The aim of the service is to provide employers with information that will lead them to sources of information overseas, beyond those capable of being offered by the CRB, to help them make safer recruitment decisions. The only contracted-out element is the fax-back service operated by iTouch (UK) Limited. The amount received by iTouch (UK) Limited over the period of the contract will depend upon the number of inquiries made to the faxback service. The contract is scheduled to run until December 2005, at which time it will be reviewed. All other aspects of the scheme are administered by civil servants employed by the CRB. Two members of staff undertake this work as part of their other duties. The total measurable cost of providing the service during the current financial year has so far been £3,650.00.
The overseas information service is a non-statutory service provided by the CRB. Part V of the Police Act 1997 under which the CRB was created did not envisage the CRB obtaining overseas criminal records as part of the Disclosure service. Nevertheless, it was recognised that foreign nationals (and UK nationals returning from a period of residence overseas) make up a significant portion of the UK workforce. These individuals often occupy positions of trust, which would normally attract a CRB Standard or Enhanced
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Disclosure. However a Disclosure would be of limited use for employers seeking to recruit a foreign national, given that it is unlikely that these individuals would feature on the UK data sources accessed as part of the CRB Disclosure service.
The faxback service provides information regarding the availability of criminal records from overseas, in particular the application procedure involved in obtaining such records from overseas. Calls are charged at premium rate (£1 per minute). The following 15 countries are featured on the faxback service:
The overseas information service also comprises an email enquiry facility (overseas@crb.gsi.gov.uk) and a National Rate enquiry line (0870 0 100 450).
The CRB is not involved in any application made to an overseas authority, nor is it responsible for the processes operated by or the nature of the information returned by that overseas authority. The costs incurred in the financial year 2001–02 amount to just over £25,000. The Overseas project was commissioned by the CRB Chief Executive in May 2001 and was concerned with establishing contact with, and benchmarking against, equivalent agencies overseas. This figure includes a number of fact-finding visits to many of the countries covered by the faxback service. The latest visit was undertaken in December 2001.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what date the Carter report has set for the restoration of checks against the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List; [97207]
- (2) if he will list the (a) milestones and (b) targets that have been set by the Carter Inquiry into the postponement of Criminal Record Bureau checks; and when they are expected to be achieved. [97211]
Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 175W.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place a copy of the (a) enhanced, (b) basic disclosure and (c) standard forms and the (i) old and (ii) new explanatory notes for Criminal Records Bureau checks in the Library. [97210]
Hilary Benn: Basic Disclosures are not yet available from the Criminal Records Bureau, and as such Basic Disclosure Application Forms do not yet exist. A single application form is used for Standard and Enhanced
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Disclosure applications and a copy of this form, along with both original and updated guidance notes, has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2003, Official Report, column 911W, on the Criminal Records Bureau, how much was paid to each organisation who conducted research for the Department; and if he will place a copy of each of the evaluations in the Library. [97225]
Hilary Benn: The following payments were made to each organisation that conducted research for the Department:
| Research Payments | |
|---|---|
| Accent Marketing and Research | 16,293,26 |
| Rosslyn Research Limited | 5,710.50 |
A copy of these evaluations will be placed in the Library in due course.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects basic disclosures to be issued again by the Criminal Records Bureau; and if he will make a statement. [97690]
Hilary Benn [holding answer 13 February 2003]: Basic disclosures are not yet available from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). In light of the operational difficulties that the CRB experienced in the summer of 2002, following the launch of the Enhanced and Standard Disclosure Services, the CRB decided to postpone the implementation of the Basic Disclosure Service, planned to start one year after the Enhanced/Standard Disclosure service. A revised implementation date has not yet been agreed and this is conditional upon the recommendations made to Ministers by the Independent Review Team.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 72W, what the total cost is of the ex-gratia payments that have been made by the CRB. [98836]
Hilary Benn: The total cost of ex-gratia payments made by the Criminal Records Bureau, up to 15 February 2003, is £40,160.
Daedalus Site
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department was made aware that the Daedalus site at Lee-on-the-Solent might be available for Home Office purposes. [99014]
Beverley Hughes: We announced on 11 February 2003 that we had identified HMS Daedalus as a potential site for an Accommodation Centre. We have put this into
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the public domain because, following preliminary work, we consider the site to be a serious prospect for an Accommodation Centre.
We first became aware in November 2002 that this site might become available for this purpose.
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra resources the Home Office will provide for Hampshire Constabulary for the policing of the Daedalus site at Lee-on-the-Solent in the event of the possible residential unit for young male asylum seekers being approved. [99015]
Beverley Hughes: The site at HMS Daedalus is being considered as a potential suitable site for an accommodation centre for single male asylum seekers. A final decision has not yet been taken. Detailed consultations have not yet begun.
Domiciliary Carers (Criminal Record Checks)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the decision to allow employment of domiciliary carers for disabled people without them first being cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau from April 2003. [98553]
Hilary Benn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on 4 November 2002, Official Report, column 100W.
Since the beginning of October 2002, the Criminal Records Bureau has issued on average over 40,000 Disclosures per week, and has produced in excess of 1 million Disclosures since 11 March 2002.
The independent review team, which my right hon. Friend announced last September, submitted its conclusions and recommendations at the end of last year. We hope to publish the team's recommendations, together with the Government's response, shortly.
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