Cost of police checks to rise

The Criminal Records Bureau’s is to more than double the
charge for police checks on social care staff from this month.

The fee for enhanced disclosures will rise from £13 to
£29 and standard ones from £12 to £24.

Social care organisations  complained about the short notice of
the decision and the lack of consultation and the poor service that
the CRB has provided so far.

“There is no justification for any increase in fees by an
agency which has made such a pig’s ear of it,” said
Registered Nursing Home Association chief executive Frank Ursell.
He complained that 125 applications to the bureau made by his
members were still outstanding 12 months later. 

Erica De’Ath, chief executive of the National Council of
Voluntary Child Care Organisations, said the budgets of voluntary
organisations  had already been set and contracts with local
authorities agreed.

She said: “It is unlikely organisations will be able to go
back to councils – the money will have to come from somewhere
else.”
However, a Bupa spokesperson said the care homes sector would be
forced to “look to councils to pay a realistic price for
care” as a result.

CRB managing director John O’Brien said the increases were
needed because “after a year’s operation, the current
charge is not the operational cost”.