But PANN professional officer Tricia Pritchard said nurseries should not be sidelined. 'Children in nurseries are just as vulnerable as those in schools, if not more so. The CRB must face up to its responsibilities and process all applications in time.'
Following the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the Department for Education and Skills has abandoned a three-month policy whereby teachers could be temporarily employed on the basis of a check of List 99, a register of people deemed unsuitable to work with children, rather than a full check using the Police National Computer. They will now need a complete check before they start work.
CRB staff have been working weekends to clear the schools backlog and the disclosures are to be sent by courier rather than post to local education authorities, schools and individuals. At present 76,000 applications are falling outside the CRB's standard of processing 90 per cent of checks within three weeks.
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, last week reminded nurseries that CRB checks, although essential, are only part of the picture in assessing the suitability of staff and managing child protection effectively. 'Alongside CRB checks nurseries must check references from past employers and have stringent management of staff issues, well thought-out nursery policies and procedures and up-to-date child protection training in place. Nurseries must remember that no system is infallible.'
David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said, 'The CRB is a disaster that was waiting to happen. The Government knew all about the problems as long ago as the spring. That is why they advised heads to make job offers on the basis of List 99 information, rather than wait.
'The incompetence displayed by the CRB is not the fault of the DfES, it is the fault of the Home Office and of Capita, the contractors who were supposed to bring a first-class and efficient service into operation five months ago.'
