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Severe backlogs built up at the Criminal Records Bureau because employers were not properly consulted about how they would actually use the service, MPs have concluded, writes Craig Kenny.

A report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee into the debacle says that the Home Office assumed the service would be largely telephone based, but employers actually preferred to send paper-based applications in bulk.

Backlogs at the CRB peaked at 300,000 in October 2002, just six months after the service went live, causing widespread delays to the recruitment of care staff, volunteers and foster carers.

Performance has since improved, but turnaround targets were relaxed last year, and the bureau is still not providing the service first envisaged, the report says.

Although the incumbent Capita plc bid £100 million less than its rivals for the contract, it ended up costing far more - rising from £250 million over 10 years to £395 million.

Government departments should be prepared to retest the market if their business assumptions change during the course of a project – even if it delays the project, says the report. “Launching a service which does not work may be more inconvenient for users than delaying service introduction to get the system right.”

The report also recommends that disclosures should be extended to all staff working with vulnerable adults – not just new staff.

Committee of Public Accounts, 45th Report. Criminal Records Bureau: Delivering Safer Recruitment
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmpubacc/453/45302.htm