From 1 July, Enhanced Disclosure checks for people working with children and vulnerable adults will cost 29, while Standard Disclosure checks for other professions will cost 24 instead of the present 12 for both. Home secretary David Blunkett said the new fees 'still represent good value for money, given the significantly increased level of protection provided by the Disclosure service'.
He added, 'The improved protection of children and vulnerable adults that is provided by the CRB inevitably comes at a cost.'
Turnaround times are also to rise, with the target for 90 per cent of Enhanced checks to be processed within four weeks instead of three weeks as at present and 90 per cent of Standard checks expected to take two weeks.
The CRB said that at present, 84.8 per cent of Enhanced Disclosures were being issued within four weeks and 87.5 per cent of Standard Disclosures within two weeks.
The Government is also giving a further 19m to help the CRB, a situation Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow described as a 'balls-up'.
Mr Burstow said, 'Doubling the fees will hit schools, care homes and charities hardest when they are already struggling with cash shortages. The fact that the taxpayer has to bail out the CRB to the tune of 19m this year demands that heads must roll.'
Written parliamentary answers given to Mr Burstow last week revealed that even with the doubling of fees, the CRB would still lose 12 on every Enhanced and Standard Disclosure check. In 2002/03 an Enhanced check cost the CRB Pounds 41 using the paper application route and 36 by telephone, while a Standard check cost 36 by paper and 31 by phone, compared with the CRB's original estimate of 13.60 per check.
But CRB director John O'Brien said these were 'aggregate fees' and that it would break even by 2005/06. He added that the CRB now had the capacity to process 60,000 checks a week and that it was currently receiving between 35,000 and 40,000 Disclosure applications per week.
The written answers also revealed that out of eight set performance targets, the CRB missed seven by a wide margin. Only 19.4 per cent of Standard Disclosures were issued in one week against a target of 95 per cent, while only 52.4 per cent of Enhanced checks were completed in three weeks out of a target of 90 per cent.
Mr O'Brien said he was 'confident' there would not be a repeat of last summer's debacle, when long delays prevented thousands of teachers from being checked before the start of the autumn term.
