Backlog delays police checks

The Criminal Records Bureau has built up such a backlog of Disclosure applications for staff checks from nurseries and other employers that they are to be sent to India to be processed.

The Home Office said last week the CRB had transferred its backlog of 'over 30,000' applications to Hays Document Management, the Indian subsidiary of the UK-based Hays plc, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. However, Hays spokesman David Beckley said on Monday, 'As far as we're aware the contract hasn't been signed yet with Capita, which runs the CRB. We can do the job but haven't had the go-ahead.'

A Home Office spokeswoman admitted the CRB had been having 'teething troubles' since it began processing applications in March, but they were 'what was anticipated. The key is reacting quickly to problems as they arise'. She added, 'The situation will be reviewed by the end of July, when the CRB hopes to be meeting its service standard of three weeks.'

The spokeswoman acknowledged that the CRB's performance had been 'poor' and said only one in four Disclosure applications was being processed in three weeks or less. But she blamed applicants for much of the delay in processing applications. 'Many application forms contained errors or omissions. We don't think this is because the forms are complicated but just that they are quite a change from what has gone before.'

Sylvia Archer, owner and manager of the Children's House Day Nursery in Stallingborough, Lincolnshire, has waited more than 17 weeks for five staff to be checked. She blamed both the CRB and Ofsted, which is acting as a CRB umbrella body for registered early years providers in England. She said, 'We are powerless. Both the CRB and Ofsted don't seem to understand the impact this is having on the quality of service we can offer.'

She said the long wait for clearance was putting a strain on her staff because the unchecked staff are not allowed to work unsupervised with the children or even change nappies. 'Ofsted is controlling both ends of the process. We're struggling to maintain supervision on uncleared staff but can do it with such a large team as ours, but what about settings with smaller teams? Why is Ofsted not challenging the CRB about the length of time it's taking to process applications?'

An Ofsted spokeswoman said, 'Since 1 April the CRB is the only body able to carry out police checks. We are aware of the problems it has had. The CRB has a large backlog, but for urgent cases such as holiday playschemes we have negotiated fast-track processing for staff.'

Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, 'We are aware there are major concerns about providers not getting their police clearance. We would ask that they do not wait six months for clearance. Ofsted is aware of these issues and if nurseries are having problems they should contact our helpline. We have had a 100 per cent success rate so far.'

Zarqa Naseer, the NDNA information officer who manages the helpline, said she expected no improvement in the short term. 'I think the number of complaints is likely to rise because people still think it's a three-week turnaround. No-one has ever contacted us to say they've had their check back in three weeks.

'I think the problem has been caused in part by there being two major changes in quick succession - first by the introduction last year of Ofsted's Early Years Directorate and now the CRB - both of which have unsettled the sector, plus the fact that the applications have to go back and forth between Ofsted and the CRB.'