Record checks may be outsourced

The Home Office is refusing to confirm or deny
reports that it plans to outsource some of the work involved in
processing applications for criminal records checks to a centre in
India.

A
range of short-term measures is being considered, which include
using external suppliers either domestically or abroad to take on
some of the administration involved in the processing. The Criminal
Records Bureau has been plagued by a backlog of applications built
up since March. Only 10,000 disclosures have been issued out of
around 57,000 received.

A Home
Office spokesperson claimed that performance is improving week on
week, with around a fifth of disclosures now being issued within
three weeks.

More
than 140 MPs’ signatures have been added to three early day motions
that express concern that the cost of carrying out criminal record
checks could be passed onto volunteers by umbrella registered
bodies. One motion tabled by Conservative MP for Wealden, Charles
Hendry, urges the government to ensure volunteering is “encouraged,
not penalised”.

The
CRB has also been accused of breaching the spirit of the Welsh
Language Act 1993 for not offering application forms in Welsh. Aled
Edwards, churches liaison officer for the Welsh assembly, said that
the CRB should provide equal provision in both English and Welsh,
and has complained to the Welsh Language Board.